


But Today Was Different

by Tumtumthomasto



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Series
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Bodyswap, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, M/M, Multi, Possession, Shadows (Persona 4), Thanatos - Freeform, as usual, kinda body swap, ryoji tries his hand at being souji, sadness regarding minato's death, velvet room, yosuke denies his growing gayness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 14:32:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5378624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tumtumthomasto/pseuds/Tumtumthomasto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically an au in which Ryoji possesses Souji's body! Much like how in PQ Elizabeth is overwhellmed by Thanatos's power and her ego is washed out!</p><p>Ryoji struggles to act like Souji and the group works tirelessly to bring Souji back into control of his own body. Yosuke comes to terms with just how different his life is when Souji isn't Souji.</p><p>(The AU idea originated from @numibata's comics about Ryoji possessing Souji from tumblr)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlchemK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlchemK/gifts).



> aahhhhh souji's side of things

How, why on earth did it all come to this? 

Reaching back into the tides of his memory, this evening's explorations were going quite well. No one was in need of rescue in the TV world's twisted underground base, so it was merely a training session and item pick up day. Nothing out of the ordinary, the Investigation Team has gone on countless journeys in this fashion. Souji supposes it could simply be bad luck, but boy was this the worse luck at the /worst/ time. Misfortune had an awful habit of showing face at their moments of weakness. It was the end of their travels, every hall, corridor, nook, cranny, crevice, every possible section of this area had been swept clean of both foe and treasure. Naturally, when doing full-floor sweeps, the group is exhausted. They usually leave right after.

But today was different. 

Right on the last section before the exit, there stood the final treasure chest, the last on the map to be exact. One of the big ones at the end of a hallway, one requiring a key. He's got three in his inventory, might as well use one. It seemed like a good plan at the moment, motioning for the current party members to follow him down the way towards the shimmering box. These are always the chests holding the cream of the goodies, as well as the rare enemy. Emphasis on rare, they're more likely to encounter the disappointment of a fake and empty chest than they are to come across and enemy inside. 

But today was different.  
Opening the chest rouses some horrid creature, a chained beast with bloodied cloths tied to it's acrid shape. The loud jingling of chains rings out like bells from a tower on high as it springs from the chest, Rise yelps in surprise at the oncoming readings. "What is that thing!?" She muses in a worried tone, "It feels bad...you shouldn't have opened that! Look out!" Her voice wavers in fear as the intensely terrifying force of the beast at hand rises from the depths of the chest, looming over the already beat team.   
"Rise, find us an exit route. Quickly, we can't fight this thing like this!" He orders, only to have the air beaten from his lungs in a breath-taking bout of megidolan. This thing was as deadly as it looked, nearly whipping the whole team out in it's first go at them. Kanji growls in pain, feeling as if every organ in his body just got a firm shaking. Yukkiko is equally as frustrated at her lack of energy, having no strength left in her shape to heal the team even in this time of crisis. The reaper, the name suits it well. Teddie recalls seeing this fiend hover about the darkest sections of this realm from time to time, smelling of blood and malice from a great distance away. How it had gotten here, in this chest, is beyond his knowledge. 

It all went viciously downhill from there, having no healing and no items, no moon tsukubame left. No nothing. Souji recalls a very true and equally idiotic phrase. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In his mind he fishes through all known Persona he has at this point, an array of cards flickering past in the confines of his mind. It's hard to focus with the commotion around him but Souji persists no less. There it is. Thanatos.  
Margret had seemed very...troubled when locating this particular Persona in the compendium, her brows furrowing and her lips set in a tight frown. She casts a knowing and wary glance to her master before looking back at him. "This card...is the ultimate form of the Death arcana, therefore it cannot be taken lightly. It's history...is marred with tragedy and oblivion. It would be, unwise to use this card if one is not absolutely prepared for what force it may bring." She says, speaking slowly as if to engrave her words upon his mind. He nods his head, acting as if he fully understood the consequences of awakening this Persona. 

Only now, did he really get to know what she meant.   
He wasn't ready.   
He was definitely not ready. 

Souji calls forth the Persona, the card of death flickering into his palm before being crushed into his palm. He knew very well how the higher ranking Persona's sting when first summoned, it was never as bad as when first summoning Izanagi, but he's grown used to the discomfort. This was unlike anything he's ever experienced. A fluid, thick and oily like tar trickles down from his palm and down beneath the sleeves of his uniform. It's always a flame, why was it different now? He feels his heart beat in his throat out of fear of what was to come. The liquid spurts out from the crumpled card, gushing out and around his hand like a broken spicket. He curls his fingers again, feeling the fluid seep into his flesh. Nothing came from the card, not yet at least and the reaper was rearing back for another swing at the crew. He searches inside himself for the strength to will this creature out from the card, reaches down in his soul for what might he may need. "THANATOS!" He yells, and the fluid ignites. A flame, darker and blacker than any abyss coats his body in seconds. It's real and it hurts, it hurts it hurts. It tears at his skin like knives, flames swirling around his shape like a great beacon. Never in all of his endeavors of summoning Persona has he ever experienced anything like this before. He trembles, falling to his knees as the card in his hand continues to explode into fire. A guttural cry is stolen from his throat, ripped straight out of him by the demon he was summoning from his soul. 

Today was different.

Thanatos, emerges from the card in all it's ghastly glory. Souji crumples to the floor fully, all the life in his body sapped away until he barely has the energy to breath. He slumps over, the flames beating against his skin still even as the Persona has arose. Usually, when the user is unconscious, the Persona would fade, but this time it was different. Acting without any prompting, Thanatos lunges at the reaper, swords in hand. It too had chains that clung to it's shape, binding not bloodied cloth, but /coffins/ to it's shape. It soars over the crestfallen team, it's shadow enveloping them all like a cloud overtaking the sun. In one fell swoop it lodges it's blade into the heart of the shadow, reaching forth to tear it's head from off it's shoulders. In a matter of moments, the battle is won. The reaper nothing but a lifeless corpse hanging in the maw of the Persona as it turns to then face the humans before it. "NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO RUN! THIS THING IS JUST AS DANGEROUS PLEASE GET OUT OF THERE!" Rise all but screams at the team, "Senpai is seriously hurt! You all are, run! RUN!" She urges, scanners wailing in recognition of the team's conditions.

The only issue now, aside from every other life threatening thing was that...   
Their leader's body was across the room, right /behind/ the rouge Persona.

"Damnit to hell." Kanji says, looking over frantically to where Souji lay in a heap across the floor. Getting to close to that, thing, would get them all killed. The situation looked bleaker and bleaker the more he thought about it. Yukiko too examines the scene, eyes settling on the Persona still crushing the reaper between it's hidden teeth.

What would Souji want them to do?   
Leave him behind. 

What an awful turn of events, even worse was the fact that it was the ONLY option. Teddie lets out a defeated squeak, "We have to go! We'll all die if we don't leave now!" He takes off from the scene first, knowing, despite his feelings that this was the only way.   
"Please!" Rise cries out again, "There's no time!" She's on the brink of tears as she instructs them to flee, voice warbling with the weight of having to watch with no way to help.   
Yukiko bows her head and turns her gaze to the exit route, willing herself with every fiber of her being to move on. She grabs Chie's hand in her own, tugging her along as she runs.   
"Naoto! Go now!" Kanji yells, shifting to make his own exit before looking to Yosuke. Out of all of the members in this group, he'd have the hardest time letting their leader go. No. He wouldn't leave him, he'd be an idiot and die in here trying to save him. "C'mon, Yosuke-senpai, there's nothing we can do for him. We gotta go!" Thanatos crushes the remaining pieces of the reaper, letting out a mighty cry. Kanji grasps Yosuke by the back of his shirt and pulls, with every bit of force he has he all but picks up the other boy and totes him out towards the exit.

What would become of Souji, left alone in this place, in this situation...was unknown. Never have they ever left someone alone in the TV, never have they gone out without someone. 

But today was different.


	2. not who you should be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke's side of the previous chapter  
> and then some

Things had been going rather...well, decent for the Investigation Team. They had gained many members, what from the measly two: himself and Souji. Despite the still hanging dread looming subtly over their small hometown of Inaba, things had started to simmer down somewhat, and the group had found themselves able to head into the television world for the simple reason of training. And without the dire need to be saving someone at the end of all the floors, they could sweep over the whole place and pick up or see anything they had the time and energy for. Still, though, it was fun most of the time.  
Lately, Yosuke had been getting rather used to his newly transformed Persona, Susano-O. It was definitely a large step up from Jiraiya, and the power that surged through him every time he used a simple Garu was immense. It took a toll on his energy, and it was obviously taxing for the usually nimble and quick teen, now trudging slightly after just a couple battles. Reckless as always, he drained himself quickly. Hey, he was The Magician, right? No one could /not/ expect him to sap at his own psyche like that to dish out some intense Garudyne. 

Of course, he should have expected it.  
He should have warned Souji about opening that chest.  
Yosuke /always/ had the worst of luck, being with the team was almost like a curse. Before he could warn anyone, however, Souji had opened the dreaded chest and out came a horrifying creature that didn't even seem like a Shadow to begin with, The Reaper. Instead of sporting the usual scythe figures like those always did, it carried two...revolvers? Long ones too, he was sure they were about as tall as he was.  
Not that that was the concern, however. More or less, it was the fact that the whole team was fatigued and ready to just fall over. It was impossible for him to cast even just a small Garu without passing out right then and there, and so he had to pick at his own life to just attack physically. "Persona!" he called out with all his might, spinning to kick the tarot card the suspended in the air for a brief moment, hearing the familiar shattering before the welcoming heat engulfed him, Susano-O appearing to attack the Reaper. 

However, just as Yosuke was tired, his Persona wasn't any better, as his status reflected upon the Persona's, obviously enough. Everyone else was suffering just standing up, and it was all hopeless to try now. Even if his mind wanted him to /move/, to just do /something/, his body refused. Naoto too had summoned his Persona many, many times, and with no luck, could not do any significant damage at all. Chie had gotten terrible bruises from having to go up close to actually /hit/ the demon. 

It was a living nightmare, to realistically say. 

Just then, he saw the flames from his friend, and he could feel the shift in atmosphere to a heavy morbidity that made him cringe. Whatever Persona his friend was summoning there, it could potentially save them, but he had a feeling it would backfire terribly on the Investigation Team. "PARTNER!" he called out, feeling a pain in his chest just from yelling to Souji as he saw him collapse, and a terrifying /beast/ of a Persona emerged. What /was/ that thing? Whatever Arcana his friend had pulled that demon from couldn't have been good. 

After the bout of ravaging the Reaper in a mere couple seconds, Yosuke thought he was seeing stars. He couldn't stand up any longer, he couldn't take this; but still, he held on to go save his friend. Yosuke was about to rush in to Souji's side before he felt a hand grab at the back of his shirt. He flailed and pulled, but couldn't muster enough strength to pull himself out of the other's grip. "Let go of me, dammit! We can't just LEAVE him here! Get your hands off of me!" he struggled, voice filled with anger and frustration and sheer /worry/. Souji could die in there.  
Screw what Souji would want, Yosuke was selfish and he wanted Souji to live, to lead. He'd rather go die in his place, that's what he was there for. Why else would he call him his partner? Though, his body couldn't will on to break out of Kanji's grip, and he was left weakly being dragged by the other. "No, no! I can save him, let me go!" he yelled more, but his voice started to falter due to his lack of strength.

Once they had reached the exit, Yosuke was quiet. All that could be heard were the breaths and heavy pants of the team trying to regain their energy. Yosuke was speechless, as if he were broken. Soon, he threw off his glasses with an apparent rage, the plastic impacting and clattering uselessly to the ground. "Dammit! Damn you guys! I could have /saved/ him! We left him!" he yelled, on the brink of spilling tears from his eyes. Never did Yosuke ever show this much /fury/. His breathing was uneven, the teen clenching his fists with a frustration that couldn't be quelled. Chie chose not to say anything in fear of making the situation worse; they all knew how much closer Yosuke was to Souji, there was no doubt about it.  
Naoto swallowed dryly before he let out a sigh, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "Yosuke-senpai, there was nothing that could have been done. If we stayed then we could have all died in there." he said, trying to instill a calm air to the team. Though Yosuke wouldn't have any of it.  
"NO! You guys could have let me get him! I don't give a fuck if I die for him, I'd get him out alive!" Tears pricked at his eyes and he brought his sleeve up to quickly wipe over his face, not wanting to show any obvious weakness during his moment of ire.

Rise watches as each of the members come forth from the portal, bloodied and beaten and down for the count. She looks to each and every face only to find her fears confirmed. Souji wasn't with them. Her Persona fades and she drops to her knees and bawls into her her hands, "Oh god." She wails into her palms, hunching over to weep. "S-s-souji-senpai!" Her voice echoes out into the space, cracked and broken in the wake of her emotion. Teddie too makes disgusting sob sounds from within his suit, drooping visibly as he plops down onto the floor in sorrow. The air grows heavy and weighted with the pain of their decision, was it the right decision? Yukiko finds herself wondering if they really should have tried to save him, was he already dead? She doesn't have it in her to cry, not yet at least. She brings a hand up to her mouth, shaking her head and trying to stay her breath.

"What the fuck kinda good would it've done to have your or all of us dead?!" Kanji sputters, rubbing his hands against his face in frustration as he too feels crippled under the weight of what they've potentially lost. "There's...there's nothing you could have done, nothing any of us could have done aside from get our asses thrown six fucking feet under." He hisses, gritting his teeth as he wills himself not to fall into the same fit of tears as a few of the others. 

The burdensome atmosphere did nothing to alleviate the guilt on all their shoulders, but rather, did some to make it even worse. Yosuke was especially angry with everyone, including himself. If only he didn't use up all his energy. If only he could have gone to save him in time to drag him out with everyone else. If only he could have died in /his/ place. Thoughts flooded his head, and he tried to keep his choleric tears in, though it was only doing to make it all worse. This was a horrible dream, and he would wake up from it sweaty and shivering, just like he always did in situations like this. Except that, this wasn't one of those situations. This was /real/, and he couldn't do anything about it. 

He keeps silent for a long moment before he gets up, almost swaying from leg to leg from the quick movement and lack of energy to go along with it. He doesn't even bother to pick up his glasses, giving a growl under his breath with pain. He feels a slight chill at his forehead and realizes that he's bleeding. No, that didn't matter anymore. How could he even think about himself when Souji was still in there? But like they said, there was nothing to do anymore. It was late, but it wasn't like his parents even checked if he was in bed during the night or not. "Let's go." he says bitterly, his voice raspy and cracked. He started to walk back to where they had entered the television world, not bothering to look back at his teammates. 

Chie feels a tear sliding down her cheek, and once she acknowledges it, she wipes with her hand, trying to keep the rest from flowing down. She wanted to be held, wanted to sit with Yukiko to pray that everything would be alright. Naoto couldn't bring it in himself to cry, only because nothing good would come from it. All he could do now was hope that Souji was alright. He was a leader that no one else could have replaced, he was the one who was meant for it. If he had just disappeared, then where would they be then? A slender hand went to run through his short, blue hair, the detective putting his cap back on before picking up the glasses Yosuke had hurled to the ground, and handing them to Teddie. "Please keep these for him for later." Soon, he went over to Kanji, just trying to seek the indirect comfort that the other's presence offered him. He said nothing of wanting that comfort, but the action of Naoto simply stepping closer signified it enough. 

Teddie observes as the humans shuffle out of the realm, somber feelings seeping into each of their heavy steps. They should have never entered this place, ever. It was a morbid thought, seeing how much /he's/ personally gained by being with all these people. But in matters of safety, no human should have every entered this land. He thinks of that now more than he ever has. Yukiko shuffles over to Rise, "You have to stand, it's time to leave. Mourn, in a safer place..." She says, voice cold and emotionless as if all life is gone from her. She pats the singer's shoulder, receiving a loud sniffle and moan in return. The younger girl soon comes to stand, her eyes puffy as tears continue to pour from her eyes. Her granny would be in bed by now, so fear of her seeing her baby walk in like /this/, in this dark time, she busies herself with pointless thoughts like that. Kanji too at this point is crying, it's pointless to try and hold in the sadness. He snuffles, wiping his nose harshly with a sleeve as he sniffles still. He senses Naoto growing closer to him and peers down with teary eyes at him, trying to offer some semblance of a comforting gaze despite his own crying. They all file out of the TV one by one, Teddie being the last to exit, holding the thin framed glasses in a paw as he too exits. 

*****  
The night passed on like any other, only now with the grief of loss hanging over their heads. Yosuke knew Souji was more than capable of saving his own life, but after seeing him unconscious like that, he wasn't so sure anymore. He had snuck through the window of his own room to climb in, lying in bed hopelessly, staring up at the ceiling. He heard the window open one more time when Teddie had come inside, and that was all. 

The night air is cold, colder than the ache of emotions the bear wishes he didn't have access to. Climbing up into the room and waddling over to the closet in which he stays feels almost aimless, what's the point of going on? Why...why keep searching for this elusive truth if their main sense of hope is potentially gone? Teddie settles down in the tranquil darkness of the closet, wishing for once in a very very long time, that he just didn't exist at all. 

The teen hadn't even gone to sleep when an hour or two passed, the darkness feeling as if eternal. It could have swallowed him up if he let it, but it didn't. As if stirred on by some unseen force, he sat up in bed, putting on the closest articles of clothing he could find and taking the keys to the store, heading outside via the window and taking his bike to Junes. 

Soon, he had unlocked the back door, letting himself in, taking a flashlight and stepping inside. There were no security guards, only cameras, and he'd make sure to head to Junes extra early later to delete all the film of him wandering around aimlessly in the dark to look for his friend.  
He had half a mind to enter the television once more, but something told him not to. Something had told him to stay in the store. It was...a presence. It was like a gut feeling, a feeling that someone was /there/.  
His voice was quiet still from his phlegmatic state, indifferent and absent of emotion. He was burnt out, he couldn't take it anymore. He just wanted his partner back. "..Partner? Partner, are you here? S..Souji?"


	3. misinterpretation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoji rises from the grave to find he's not as he should be.

Time and space flickered in and out like a candle. Was he dead? He couldn't hear anything at all, not even the ominous clinking of the chains. No footsteps, did everyone get out alright? Were they unable to get him out? He finds himself wondering about all of these things as he lies in the darkness. He wouldn't be upset if they left him, in fact, it was probably the best way to ensure their safety. That's what counts. They could go on without him right? As he feels himself grow colder, he clings to the hope that the team they've spent so long formulating...will be able to withstand such a loss.   
The chill however, doesn't last. In fact, he feels a terrible warmth spreading through him again as his perspective of reality comes back into focus once more. Not dead after all. He blinks his eyes open, vision fluttering back to him in waves. Thanatos looms over him, eerily still. Souji has not the energy to stand but feels the Persona begin to vanish from sight, slinking back into the card from which it came. No, not the card. It just kind of, vanished. Where did it go? He's never heard of a one-time-only use Persona. Then again, everything about that day had gone terribly wrong.  
Just then, a pain rivaling that of Thantos' summoning flames gnaws at his soul. He winces, howling in pain as his whole body tensed at the sensation pricking at his mind. Squeezing his eyes closed he wishes for nothing aside for the pain to stop. Visions flood his mind as he sinks further into fits of agony.   
He could see a tower, the moon enlarged by some awful force he knew not the name of. It was green and petrifying as he looked up at it in awe. Voices, like insects taint his thoughts as he turns to face some insects. No, humans, those are humans. Humans he knows. Mitsuru and Akihiko, Ken, Aigis...his good friend, Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka, the cute dog Koromaru, and...that beautiful boy who should have killed him. But why? Why was he supposed to be dead? This pain, this sorrow, didn't belong to Souji. He really didn't know any of these people before him. These must be memories, from the Persona...? He wills his mind to produce some sort of answer to this, but none come. The insects, humans, run up and attack him even though it's certain death. He didn't want to hurt them, hurt anyone. But right now he has no choice.

Nyx, Nyx, Nyx. They scream the name again and again and it's nauseating.  
Souji struggles to think as his consciousness blurs with that of another mind entirely. 

Why...why did it have to be like this? Why wouldn't he save himself the pain, save his team the pain of this loss.   
The image unravels like yarn from a spool and Souji is left reeling as he watches an apocalyptic scene reveal itself before his eyes. The boy, the precious boy to whom's name escapes him...does a miraculous thing, stands up to the goddamn moon crashing into the earth and stops it. How was that even possible? Why didn't he just kill me? Souji finds that particular phrase eating away at his mind, a voice entirely not his own crying out into the confines of his mind as the painful memories rush in. Why did Minato not just give up, this wretched world didn't deserve his sacrifice. He was precious and he died for a planet teeming with worthless humans who know nothing of his grace...Minato, Minato, Minato. The name of the precious boy chews at what little remains of his consciousness until Souji is entirely not there anymore. He slips away into some dark place filled with memories that never belonged to him.

****  
A familiar aura fills his perception of reality, filtering in from between his eyelashes as he comes to. Once his eyes are open again, he finds not the verdurous light of the dark hour's moon, but a strange space with metal walls and long hallways. Where was he? Why was he even here...for the longest time, he's been nonexistent. A hard feeling, an even more difficult state of mind to try and depict. It's empty, that's about as all that could be said. But now, suddenly, he's whole again. Not huge an monstrous, looking down on those he loves as a great testimony of their failure and sacrifice but, normal. What he wishes to be normal at least. He's tanner, and his hair is sticking to his sweat-slicked face in weird places. Ryoji sits up, willing his aching body to right itself. What is this uniform? Didn't he have a scarf...when he's human. He knows now that he's many things aside from human, but even so, he recalls vividly what his human shape was like, what it wore. This, whatever it was, wasn't it. That issue could be saved for later, he supposes. Right now the focus is to escape this strange metal box of a place.  
It's quite easy, given that he can see where all the shadows have been. It's just like Tartarus, they'll follow anything alive. Several humans have been here they all went out in one direction, that he can discern by smell alone. They reeked of fear and agony, a scent akin to such places. Ryoji finds himself wandering up and down several flights of stairs before following the exit towards what would appear to be a stack of three television sets. The humans had went straight in, their scent trails stopping right at that very location. He narrows his eyes through the strange new curtain of his now strangely silver hair, and places a hand tentatively to a screen. It slips through as if the screen were made of water, he presses onwards to find himself tumbling out into the floor of yet another strange place. This establishment was at least more human in origin, a store of some kind. The lack of lighting allows him to assume that this place is closed at this time. Ryoji stands up, having rolled out into the floor rather gracelessly. 

There's a voice, breathtakingly familiar that pierces his ears. It's Minato. Every fiber of his disoriented being screams at him, it's him it's him oh it's him. His heart, the silly organ he'll never get used to, beats restlessly in his chest as his eyes frantically wander the space in search of the sweet bluenette. He sounded tired, he always sounded exhausted no matter how well-rested he was. Deadpan and dispassionate in the face of most situations, all in exception to the one existence in which that precious human had to take his life from him. Never again did Ryoji want to hear the pathetic, trembling pain that ebbed into the voice of that lovely boy as Ryoji's claret pooled out along the sheets of his bed. That was an experience more awful than most he's ever had the lifetime to witness, he'd take monotone over broken any day. Although, a fair few times, he's heard a more cheerful Minato. If his soul could be filled with butterflies, it was in the moments like those. Oh how his heart, his soul, the entirety of him sings at that voice. 

 

Yosuke had been walking for a long while, swinging the beam of light from his flashlight around at the aisles and his paths in front of him, constantly calling out to his friend, just hoping that he would find him, or at least someone. He felt like he could just sit there and cry, cry until the morning when the store opened up again so he could be met with people who would /pity/ him. They would wonder why he was crying; people always did when they saw people overcome with sadness. Death, he would tell them. Death came to his partner to take him away from his life forever. 

Though soon, his thoughts dispersed as he heard the audible /step/ of someone within the store. The footfall of a shoe against the tile flooring. Yosuke immediately recognized that noise, that shoe; he remembered what it had sounded like in Junes, considering that Souji had scared him too many times after he had his headphones over his ears to not hear a completely audible voice, but only the footfalls nearby, and not wanting to get scared and drop everything from the shelf onto himself, learned to recognize the sound of Souji's shoes against the tile floors of Junes. Weird, but in this case, helped ease his heart immensely. 

Ryoji searches the halls, eyes darting from aisle to aisle as he looks for his sweet. A light, breeches his vision, the source of the voice. Oh familiarity in this moment of estrangement. He darts across the aisle, shoes squeaking harshly as he tackles the light-bearing shape, his arms folding around the human and squeezing him to tightly. "Oh...Oh, it's so good to see you again." He wheezes in barely a whisper, voice trembling with a mixture of absolute glee and unexplainable sorrow for all the suffering he brought on this poor human. He should be dead, both of them should. Why on earth was he here now--they here now? He doesn't know, doesn't care, it takes all his willpower not to bite his lips off as he kisses him, tears beading up at the corners of his eyes as he presses his lips firmly to the others.  
Hope flooded into him at that point, and he wasn't completely relieved until he felt Souji (or at least who he thought to be Souji) crash into him, bringing him into a much-needed embrace. The teen almost dropped the flashlight, slender fingers holding on loosely to the metal comfort of light as he took in Souji's familiar warmth, the one he had felt when under the covers, the one he felt when he sat against him, the one he felt when he fell /asleep/ against him. That warmth was there to comfort him, and Yosuke closed his eyes as he hugged the other. He was just so /tired/, he couldn't even cry, wrapping his arms loosely around the gray-haired teen. 

Hearing Souji's voice and actually /acknowledging/ it, he almost cringed. And to think he thought that he would never hear that voice ever again, that he thought he'd be the one wearing all black and holding flowers on one day of the month or so. Thank God. Souji was alive and there with him, Yosuke could take that moment and stand there forever in his state of heavy fatigue. He could just /fall asleep/ on him for all he cared now. The tremble in Souji's voice brought Yosuke to open his eyes and look up at his beloved partner. Sure, the guy was only two inches taller than him, but he felt that comfort just looking up at him, looking into his eyes. If he were more awake, then he would have noticed something different, something strange about those eyes. But for that moment, he just wanted to be held forever. 

"It's good to see you again too..." he mumbled quietly, more than relieved to have that voice to talk to and console himself with. "I...I thought you were dead." he said, more asleep than awake, finding no more energy in himself to continue to talk. Shut up, he told himself, and just lean on him, take in his needed warmth. Of course, that wasn't until he had gotten a sudden, brief wake-up-call. Souji's lips met with his, and his eyes shot open, wide with surprise. This was....This was pretty nice, he found his mind telling him. And so with that, he let his tense hands relax, his muscles loosening as he let his eyes droop closed once more, kissing him back with a lazy passion that could only be expressed with a quiet, tired noise of satisfaction. He let his arms tread higher up Souji's back: as much as he could go without moving too much to drain what little energy he had left in him. The strangeness of this whole situation had never occurred to his burdened, sleep-deprived mind, Yosuke just simply grateful that his friend was alive and not killed in the television world like the first murder victims had been. Souji was here and /kissing him/, and that was all that mattered to him right now.

'I thought you were dead' now that's an odd turn of phrase. Of course he was dead, in fact his life should have ended far before the time that it had. It was for the greater good of the humanity SEES fought so diligently to protect...to have him wiped off the face of the earth. Minato would know that, wouldn't question it either. Something was amiss. Ryoji pulls back for a moment, tilting his head curiously to examine just who he was with. His eyes glow an eerie cerulean hue, a color entirely not akin to Souji Seta at all. Who in the world was this boy so delighted in his presence, who was this cruel specter that sounded so heartbreakingly similar to his lover. He tenses up, blood chilling in his veins. Now seemed like a pretty good time to start acknowledging the fact that everything is wrong and out of place. He really wasn't in his own body. The fabricated shape of Ryoji Mochizuki, the human form he'd grown quite accustomed to is certainly /not/ the shape he's currently confined to. He takes a few frightened steps back, damn these human bodies and their susceptibility to emotion. Panic creeps into his bones and then to his voice, "W-Who are you? Where am I?" He questions, staring intently at the silhouette of the other boy in the dim light provided by the flashlight.   
Squinting desperately in the poorly illuminated space he continues to shy away, that is until bumping into the start of aisle. Several bags of chips crumple behind him and the sound makes him flinch, it's as if he's suddenly hyper aware of every component to his surroundings. Curling his fingers against his palms he trembles in a sickly combination of confusion and panic. Ryoji feels callouses against his palms, this body, is that of someone who fights. Months of using a heavy sword does that to one's hands. Ryoji's never had to fight with a weapon, which makes this situation all the more real in regards to the fact that he's in someone else's body.

"Y-You..." he tries to swallow this loathsome stutter, "You aren't Minato..."

Yosuke now slightly more awake, took the liberty to glance up Souji's face once more, and did notice that difference that just screamed there was something completely /wrong/. Now Yosuke wasn't too sure about the validity of how good that kiss felt, because now he had to worry a bit. This... This wasn't right. What happened to his gray-eyed, indifferent partner? Either something was totally off, or this wasn't Souji.   
Though, Yosuke's mind had trouble wrapping his mind around this. It was Souji's body, he had no doubt of. So then what was wrong? Why was he like this? Was it because of that deathly Persona? God dammit. He knew his friend would mess it up someday because of that Wild Card.   
Even after he had come to that conclusion, hearing the other question him broke his heart, because he had been so happy to have /his/ Souji back with him, and now, he wasn't so sure about it. A different personality, but same body? Or maybe even a different soul? How the hell would that have even happened. With his partner, anything could happen, it seemed. And now, that miracle-like power manifested in Souji had taken a turn for the worse to put him in the most impossible, or rather, confusing and worrisome situation he could have ever been in besides being dead.

Minato. That name wasn't at all familiar. So this guy inside Souji had thought he was someone else, while Yosuke thought that he was 100% Souji? Well, it was no wonder in the dark and in Yosuke's phlegmatic state. Now, however, that was starting to change, because a slight panic (or worry) began to set in, wiping away any of his concerns for his lack of sleep. "Yeah, sorry.. But...you're not Souji either." he sighed, almost in defeat. He found half of his friend, at least. The other half was his soul, and who knows where that went. "Who're you? And where's Souji?" he asked, trading off questions. He came here for his friend and he would get him, nothing would stand in his way.

Souji, was that the human body he was currently in? The other's name is equally as unfamiliar to him as Minato's was to him. "I don't know who you're talking about." Ryoji says truthfully, sensing the panic ebb into the other's voice just as it had his own. "This...this this." he waves his hands about, gesturing to various points along Souju's body, "This doesn't belong to me. I...I don't know why this happened, or who...this persona is. I am...Ryoji Mochizuki, I /was/ Ryoji until...this and...hm." His speech is fragmented as he works over the situation at hand. He filters his now much thicker digits through his bangs, pushing them back against his forehead as he shivers. Did this person even know who he was, was this Port Island? In the time awaiting the SEES operative's decisions on his own livelihood, he had quite a lot of time to wander about aimlessly through the city. This establishment was unknown to him, he thinks, judging by it's size that he would have remembered this place. There is very little, from his human recollections that he has forgotten. Memories are quite precious when your days are numbered and dwindling. 

Ryoji searches in his mind for the small presence, lying somewhere deep in the confines of his soul. That consciousness had all but faded away when he himself had come to, perhaps that life was the original owner of his body. Now he just feels like a thief. He didn't belong here, shouldn't be alive at all after what he's done to this wretched planet. A tremor wracks his shape as a pang of sorrow hits him once again. "Y-You, you need to tell me where I am. Right now." He says this, feeling around behind him to grab a bag of chips from the shelf he was pressed against. Not that it would do him much good to start throwing things but he's more than willing.

Well, at least this confirmed that this was definitely someone else in Souji's body. Not that that was a good thing, though, but at least he knew at least his body was here with him. Though, the other seemed honest enough, he couldn't get angry at him, even if Yosuke had a feeling he would. Ryoji? Even more unfamiliar. Nonetheless, Yosuke's mind harped at him, constantly telling him how worried he should have been, but now he was just internally panicking. Where the hell was Souji, then? Where this guy came from, though, he had no idea, and he didn't necessarily care. He just wanted Souji back, and this guy out from his body. Of course, when the guy threatened to throw a bag of chips at him, he wasn't exactly scared, but unwilling to clean anything up when he wasn't at work, and was afraid that if he would throw that, then he would throw other things as well. He was hoping to stay injury free during the night too, not to add on to the bandages that adorned his body underneath his sleeves and pants. "Hey, Ryoji, I'm just as confused as you are, calm down." he said, voice still a bit quiet as much as it was placating. "Junes, a department store. We're in Inaba, a small countryside town. I don't know where you came from or why you're in my friend's body, but something's telling me it's not gonna be so easy getting you out?" he said with a sigh, slipping a free hand into his pants pocket, the other hand holding the flashlight with more of a grip now.

"Given that, a few moments ago I was unquestionably dead...I am unsure as to how or why I am currently in this state. I shouldn't even exist at the moment to be honest. I don't know how to...per say, get out either. Little to any of this night's endeavors are making much sense to me, I had to crawl out of a television set to even arrive in this space...so..." He trails off, squinting out the window beyond and taking a tentative step towards it. Pale moonlight filters in from the front door windows, ghosting across the floor and over his skin. The moon hung gracefully in the sky beautiful and full with no teens out chasing the devil. It's odd to the the moon in such completition without thinking of the deathly shadows that composed his shape. The sky was unhindered by darkness, milky white and wonderfully peaceful. This was a good thing, he tells himself. It's natural to be afraid of the realm without your kind, no shadows lurking about when the Dark Hour is not present. He'd be the only shadow here.  
"What is...what is your name?" he asks, peeling his gaze from the moon back to the worry-stricken boy. "Might as well properly introduce ourselves if I'm going to be around...for a while."

It was odd to hear all this come from /Souji's/ mouth than anything else, but he had a feeling he was going to have to get used to it until they figured out how to get Souji back in his own body. Then, a disturbing thought came to mind: what was everyone else going to say about this? Holy shit, how would this be in any way explainable to /Dojima/? Well, perhaps that was something he had to worry about later. For now, he worried a bit more at when he was going to get his friend back.   
"Yeah, that television thing is the usual for me." Never did he think he would utter that phrase. This Midnight Channel really has integrated itself into the Investigation Team's lives, and it was safe to say that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing until these kinds of situations happened.   
The moonlight filtered in through the door's windows, reminding Yosuke that it was /late/. How he wasn't falling asleep at the moment he didn't know. Perhaps all the shock and panic kept him going to even talk to this Ryoji guy. Was he a ghost or something? This was really some weird shit, but Yosuke just had to go with the flow as to not scare himself even further.He might be there for a while.   
"Yosuke. Yosuke Hanamura. Sorry if you...thought I was someone else. I mean, I don't really hear that often but...yeah.." he said awkwardly, bringing up a hand to rub at the back of his neck. After all, he was a teen with headphones worn for the purpose of making a fashion statement and dyed hair, there weren't many who looked like him. Did he sound like someone? That wasn't usual either. Hm.

"It's alright, you just sound particularly like someone I used to know. Then again, I could see pieces of him...everywhere." Ryoji says, trailing off slightly as his voice darkens sorrowfully. "I'm sorry to burden you with this unusual chain of events. I promise to er, explain who and what I am better at a later date." He extends an arm to tap the glass of the window, a small click as his nail makes contact. "Humans aren't typically accustomed to staying awake at such times....so I'll make this brief. Where is it exactly, for now at least, could I stay?"   
He was doing such a poor job at seeming human in origin. It was a façade he lost when coming to terms with the horrors of his own identity. Death incarnate, harbinger of the apocalypse and counterpart to the great Nyx, mother of shadows...really wasn't a very human ipseity. He narrows his eyes at the winding roads along the street, old and in need of repaving. Little strands of grass and weeds perking up out of the cracks in the asphalt, brush and limbs lining the areas beyond. This really was the countryside. He's only heard about one such places in film, seeing that his existence was quite unfulfilled and short-lived. This could be fun, he thinks. Being alive again, being around the fickle human race and their flaws and quirks. It's not the same without Minato, without the humans he'd grown to love. Times change, and he should enjoy what little time in the waking realm he has before being sent back into the cold hands of nonexistence once more.

Well, the guy was considerate, at least. Or, well, as considerate as you could ever be when you were possessing a body. This was so confusing on so many levels, it was simply hard to understand, especially since it was so late like this. True, he was probably as awake as ever, but perhaps it was like instinct that when it was late, his brain stopped working; that was probably why he couldn't do homework so well late at night. But yeah, he did bring up a good point. Where /was/ a place Ryoji could stay?   
It wasn't the best time to let Ryoji go off to the Dojima residence just yet, simply because he wouldn't know how to avoid the questioning from Dojima himself just yet. It would be easier to explain that Souji slept over at his house to study. Yeah, let's go with that. "You can... come with me for tonight. I don't want to deal with a policeman interrogating me for losing his nephew's soul during a near-death encounter inside the television." Nice. He glanced up around the dark ceiling of the store, letting out a sigh. "Guess I have to come early to my shift tomorrow just to delete all this footage.." he grumbled. At least the next day was a Sunday.   
He started to walk to the back door, leading Ryoji outside with him. Once had met with the chilly night air once more, he turned around to lock up the back door of Junes, letting out a sigh. His eyes fixed themselves on Souji, or, er, Ryoji in Souji's body. The moonlight and dim street lamps offered some better lighting than inside the store did, Yosuke running a hand through his hair as he glanced one more time, then went over to get on his bike, looking over his shoulder to the other. "I know this bike looks like a piece of shit, but it'll hold, trust me, just get on."

Ryoji takes notice of the others tendency to sigh finding it amusing how humans make effort to express their discomforts in such tics. Most are very open, easy to read in their emotional escapades. Body language is the literature of humanity and it's habits, thought some humans are rather unexpressive...the metaphorical literature of their bodies scribed out in a fine print, difficult to decipher. In the case of his new company, he was easy to read. Ryoji takes slight relief in this, following the boy out of the department store with only a single wayward glance in it's direction before moving on.   
So this one, this person he to whose body he was borrowing, lived with his uncle. Said uncle was in the police force. Ryoji recalls how fickle the police of Port Island were, unbeknownst, like most humans as to the transactions of the fair few Persona users in the area. He can safely assume that this policeman would be little to no different than that.   
As easily as he notices the sighs, he catches the looks. Oh how it must trouble this person, seeing a familiar face yet entirely /unfamiliar/ with the individual within. How close were these two humans? He bats his eyelashes in response to Yosuke's occasional gaze, determining by the look in his eyes that they must be really close. The bonds between humans has always been precious, little chains that link those to others in friendship, pain, or a whole slew of emotion. Ryoji himself never got the chance to make a lot of ties with others, but the one's he did establish he will hold within himself for all time.   
He is drawn from his thoughts as the other gestures to the rather rickety looking bicycle. There is little to no choice but to trust in his words, hoping that the bike with withstand the journey, however long it may be.   
"Your kindness knows no bounds, Hana-chan." He coos, feeling his old habits of speech begin to sink in once more. Without the panic and worry to cloud his perception of reality he can...what is the phrase? Ah, yes. Loosen up. If he's not riddled with the seemingly depthless void of sorrow that eats away at his very soul, Ryoji is quite the chipper fellow. Having a tendency to be poetic and downright flirtatious with most any human regardless of their form. It's just so intriguing to see the various reactions to his words, humans are like a color-spectrum of life. Bubbling over with a thousand possibilities and combinations. It was a fun game to play, that is before he started to loath the human-race. They robbed him of something precious, their pitiful world and their weak lives...made a compromise suicide out of the life he loved the most. He tries his best to not let a frown crease his lips as he carefully seats himself on the bicycle, "Take me away~!" He purrs softly, quirking his mouth in a smile despite his morbid thoughts.

"Huh..?" he sounded in surprise, eyes wide and face expressing his slight worry and extreme confusion. "Ha...Hana..chan...?" he repeated questionably under his breath, more to himself than anything else. And to hear it from Souji's voice too.... Was it just him or was it getting hot? God dammit, what was wrong with him? He brought up a finger to hook at the collar of his long-sleeved t-shirt to give himself some air before he cleared his throat. The last time he had been called that was with....Saki. But, even now it was obvious to himself that he hadn't loved her at all, it was just an admiration, now turned to slight indifference. Still, hearing that come from /Souji's/ mouth, of all people... That was a bit terrifying as it was oddly entrancing. No, shut up, he's on the bike now, better just get home before he passed out.   
That phrase made Yosuke just as weirded out as much as he felt like he wanted to pull out his phone and record it. Never did he think he would hear anything like that come from Souji, or at least, with his voice. This was just getting weirder by the minute. He tried not to think so much on it, applying force upon the pedal before he started the bike off, keeping up the momentum now with ease despite the extra weight. 

Soon enough, they had arrived at the Hanamura residence, Yosuke kicking the brakes on his bike, wincing at the squeak of the metal. Hopefully his parents didn't hear that. "Alright, you gotta be quiet though, if my parents see me up this late they'll kill me." he said with a hushed voice, mind still swirling over that "Hana-chan" thing, closing his eyes for a moment to try and disperse the odd thoughts. "Come on, this way." he said, leading the other over to his window, opening it up slowly and swinging his legs in, letting Ryoji head inside as well before he shut the window quietly, sighing in relief. Inside with a bed, finally.

Once inside, he takes some time to bask in the sheer /peace/ of the quiet, dark night. If he hadn't found at least some trace of his friend during that nightly Junes endeavor, then he would have returned and probably wanted this darkness to just swallow him up, or even worse, he probably would have fallen /asleep/ in the television world to hopelessly wait for his friend to turn up. At least now he wasn't as worried; all he needed to worry about now was where exactly his friend's soul was. Hopefully it was still around, what would he do without his best friend there for him? He closed his eyes for a moment to try and disperse that gnawing worry before opening them again. 

His room was dim, only lit by the moonlight that filtered in through the window. Still, it felt as if he was just in a room of darkness and shadow; he couldn't see the posters (shamefully ones of Rise in a bikini and others of the teen popstar now with them in their group) on his walls, and he couldn't even make out the shapes of the CD cases and other trinkets he had put up on his shelves. This darkness was almost welcoming, if it weren't for the half-familiar half-stranger feeling he had with Ryoji in Souji's body. It was almost Souji, but at the same time it wasn't, and it bothered him. Yet, he couldn't hate Ryoji for it, it just wasn't right. 

Ryoji's still enamored by how /lived in/ the room is. In the fair few times he went into the dorm rooms of the SEES members he gathered that humans typically have a self that is portrayed in the aesthetics of their living spaces. Minato was...different, the room in which he stayed at in the dormitory was hardly "lived in". The quiet little room of which he spent the most time in when he was still alive lacked the typical character that most humans impose on their living spaces. It was almost untouched aside from very infinitesimal points. The smell for one, was something probably only he could pick up on. It smelled like Minato, who smelled like water from a spring...earthy and subtle but entirely pleasant. Even now, Ryoji could close his eyes and recall it. At this fond memory, a smile tweaks at his lips.   
Minato's room, in his mind, always looked much better when not tainted by his blood about the sheets of his bed and floor. The acrid scent of his own claret in the worlds he's aware of in which Minato choose to kill him...pains him. Metal itself, the acidic tang of coper is not what gives the scent it's dark meaning. It's the consequences of it's presence, blood is typically not a good thing to have out and about. It's the liquid soul of the human body that flows through each fiber of their shape, without it, they're dead. The human body is weak, most anything can strip it of it's form and function. Ryoji recalls how utterly enervated he was in the moments of his human life fading, it was as if he were a candle sent out to brave a strong gust of wind. Doomed. The cool blade of Minato's sword plunging into his chest, meant for heinous creatures that were easy to kill without wounding one's moral compass. He could tell that the boy had never /killed/ anything remotely sentient or human-like, just by the twisted look on his face as--stop. Stop, stop, stop. He needs to stop thinking about it, that is the past. Why is it that every time the small touches of happiness breech his heart that memories such as these flood in?

Yosuke slipped off his long-sleeved shirt to quickly put back on his sleep-worn t-shirt he had discarded on the side of his bed before heading out, throwing off his pants and piling them nearby his bed, leaving himself in his boxers as he sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he glanced over at Souji-- Ryoji. God, this was going to be tough to get used to. Upon hearing the name again, he coughed, bringing a hand up to his mouth as if to cover his cough, but in fact using it to shield his face a bit from the looks, as he had felt his cheeks get a bit warm. Seeing him /smile/ like that made something rush through Yosuke, and immediately he tried to shake such thoughts from his head. Souji was his partner, and that was all. What was even going on back in his subconscious mind? Then again, maybe he didn't really want to find out. "Right. No...problem, no problem." He glanced to the closet, hoping that this wasn't waking Teddie up. Then again, that bear was a pretty heavy sleeper, they probably weren't going to be waking him anytime soon if they kept quiet like this. 

"Um, I'll...get the futon for you." he said as he went over to get on his knees, reaching under his bed to drag out the futon, having to pull out a box or two, wondering why he hadn't unpacked them this long into his move to Inaba until he looked inside them, quickly pushing them back under his bed- no one needed to lay eyes on those except himself. At least he didn't label the box, that way it wasn't so obvious like people had it in folders on their computers or something, he wasn't /that/ dumb with this kind of stuff.   
After he pulled out the futon and dusted it off a bit, he took a small pillow from his bed and an extra blanket for Ryoji to use, laying them down on the futon before he plopped down on his own bed. "Alright, there you go! Now, if you don't mind me, I'm gonna replenish my sleep-deprived mind before I start to see the sun come up. Good night, Ryoji." he said quietly, maybe a bit too easily, but was too tired to care as he crawled under his own covers and fell asleep, enveloped by the welcoming warmth to sleep through the night.

"Once again, your kindness is as boundless as the sea itself." he murmurs in a hushed tone, kneeling to the floor to where the futon was. "Goodnight, Hana-chan." He watches for a moment longer as the other teen clambers into bed. The thoughts of death and dismay slink back to the confines of his soul once again as he draws himself from the thought process entirely, for now at least. Now that he was no longer obligated to converse with the other, he could have some time to think about his current predicament. Let's start small.   
He shrugs off the uniform jacket that he has yet to examine. Ryoji folds it over in his lap and continues to look it over. It's black, similar to the Gekkokan uniform. The stitch-lines adorn the entirety of it and he runs a thumb over the white lines.   
His attention is soon directed to the closeted area once again, there is definitely a shadow in there but why? Being a counterpart to the mother of all shadows, one comes about the knowledge pertaining to most shadow-kind. With all his knowledge about the strange creatures, he is unable to rouse any reasonable answer as to why a human would have a shadow-like presence stored in their home. Humans are quite intent on annihilating the shadows, that or tearing them apart for research (a whole lot of good that did the Kirijo fools), so why would one simple human have a shadow here? Ryoji has half a mind to not rouse the creature from it's place in the hidden area, knowing that shadows indeed sleep and waking one is typically unwise (those that are animalistic in nature that is.) 

Time passes by slowly, the hours of the night crawling on at a pace to rival death. A sigh escapes his lips as he finds himself sleepless in this unfamiliar space. His eyes wander to the side of the bed above, what little he can see from his position along the floor. What he does next, lacks rhyme or reason. With silent and lackadaisical movements he shifts up from the floor and climbs into the other's bed. Not so much as a spring or board sings in response to his actions, noiselessly Ryoji lowers himself further. Yosuke is warm, like most humans, mammals really. From this closeness he can hear him breath, soft exhalations in his sleeping state.   
Humans are so strange and he is so quick to despise them. After all they did rob him of the most precious thing he had...yet, it is moments such as these that make the human existence worthwhile. Ryoji watches the boy sleep for a few moments more until he drifts off to sleep as well, beside him.


	4. Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke's got to deal with the two shadows in his life now.

Yosuke was out like a light once he had climbed into bed, as if the warmth had been abyss to pull himself into a void of pure unconsciousness, which wasn't at all as bad as it sounded. Sleep welcomed him, mind slipping away to join the world of the subconscious. His fatigue overtook him, and his bed was his savior that night to save from the horrible, horrible world of the awakened. After he had fallen asleep, lying on his side and breathing softly, he was completely unaware of anything that had happened after he had shut out the world. Dreams invaded his mind naught, most possible because all these happenings were valid enough to be a dream themselves; it wasn't everyday Souji's body got possessed by a guy named Ryoji who liked to call him "Hana-chan" and /smiled/ like a goofy child- kinda like Yosuke sometimes, except that the teen was like that by nature. Souji usually wasn't like that at all around in public, only perhaps save for some occasions when he spent time with him.  
Despite these potential, legit thoughts that could have pestered his mind relentlessly, he slept on, relatively undisturbed during the peaceful slumber he embarked upon. During the night, he hadn't even noticed anyone climb in with him, or when an extra warmth fueled his comfort. 

The morning came much too soon for him. And not only that, but his alarm clock- with its slowly dying batteries and Yosuke's ultimate laziness- had gone off late. The teen turned over to hide his face in his pillow, groaning into it, disgruntled noises of exasperation muffled before he reached his hand over to slam it down on his alarm clock to quell the sound. Sitting up in bed, he yawned, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands. Sunlight filtered through the window to light the room. The familiar darkness of the night looked to be long gone, left to flee from the morning light. He gave a sidelong glance to his clock, seeing that it was around eight-thirty or so; he was too lazy to look closely. Though as his brain began to wake with his body, he noticed a rather entrancing warmth, one even more than his own, and soon realized the extra /body/ in his bed with him.  
With a startled noise, he almost stumbled out of bed with pure fright. Although, he was far from senile, and remembered the night before rather well. An obvious question arose in his head as he glanced down at the other lying beside him. 

Just /what/ was he doing in his bed if he had a futon laid out just for him? Sure, maybe that warmth was pretty nice, but once the realization hit him that he had /slept/ with a guy, more specifically more-or-less a stranger in Souji's body. /Souji's/ body. Well, maybe waking up to that face in the morning wasn't so bad- wait, no, what the hell was he even thinking?! He ran his hand through his hair as he swallowed dryly, glancing down at Ryoji with unease. 

"Holy shit, dude... You scared the crap out of me.You could have at least /asked/ before you climbed in?" he said with astonishment, half surprised with his own thoughts as well as the thoughts that could have been going through Ryoji's head when he decided to join him under the covers. He sat up, now moving a bit farther from the other in his bed. "...Er.../Why/ did you come into bed with me?" Wow. That whole sentence was something he never thought would even come out of his mouth.

Ryoji's eyes flutter open as soon as he senses movement again, was it morning already? Time sure does fly when you're incapable of dreaming, shadows don't dream seeing that most are not even able to process imagination or any considerable thought subconsciously or otherwise. He wakes so seamlessly, it's almost as if he were barely asleep at all. Observing the other flinch away from him as if he were suddenly burned rouses a frown on his face. Ryoji soaks in Yosuke's questioning as he sits up slowly, bringing his hands up to his face to gently rub the remainders of sleep from his eyes. A yawn slips past him, his brain screaming out for oxygen and forcing him to suck in a slow but deep breath. Now, onto answering the questions he doesn't really have answers to. Not "good" answers at least.  
"Well." He starts, rolling his shoulders until he hears his joints pop rather uncomfortably, "You're warm and I find that to be pleasant...and there is a /presence/ in that area that unnerves me." Ryoji points a finger at the closet with a chagrinned gaze. 

He was....warm. Well, it was an accurately correct statement, but still not a reason well enough to convince Yosuke that he hadn't slept with him for something legitimate. If the guy was cold then he could have just said so? Then, Ryoji mentions the presence in his closet, and Yosuke furrows his eyebrows before he remembers that /Teddie/ is in there. Right. He /did/ live with him, after all. But how did Ryoji know he was in there without even looking? Was there just some feeling that Yosuke didn't have? He didn't have a lot of senses that some people had, maybe that was just it. 

From the inside of the closeted area, the one inside finds that there is a presence /outside/ that unnerves him equally. Teddie wakes up rather abruptly, body still aching from crying so much the previous night. Who would have thought that the physical counterpart to emotions would be so...uncomfortable. Even now it hurt. Was Sensei really gone...? After all the troubles and trials that these humans have endured, one slip up like this and it's all over? He sits there for a moment, working over in his head any possible positive outcomes to being stuck in the TV realm as a human. None, that's just peachy.  
Teddie would have continued his downwards spiral of negative thought if it wasn't for the peculiar smell that pricks his nose. In the time that he acted as the group's support system, he had to categorize the various shadow encounters (primarily by smell) and of all the things in this moment he smells a /shadow/. That can't be right. His human nose isn't /that/ poor in comparison to his real one is it? It smelt awful though, awful in the sense that it indicated some mind-blowing amounts of power. He narrows his eyes at the crack in the closet door, peering out to the sunlight as it filtered inside in thin beams. Something was out there and he didn't like it one bit. Without further contemplation, he tentatively pulls back the closet door. "Yosuke...something smells weird." He squeaks, making quick work of examining every visual aspect of the room. Nothing seemed amiss, Souji was even here, he's here a lot of the time actually. WAIT. Souji was there? Was back? Teddie blinks several times, standing upright suddenly and pacing over to what appeared to be very much Souji but smelled very not Souji.

Ryoji tenses as the creature resembling a human approaches him, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as a shiver racks his spine. A shadow...with a human shape? That's odd, he thought he was the only one like that. Teddie squints intently at the person resembling Souji, snuffling as he openly looks over the other's shape. Was...?  
"YOSUKE!!" Teddie all but /screams/ flinching back and running to the opposite side of the room in complete horror. "HOW COULD YOU BRING...TH-THAT /THING/ HERE!! THAT'S NOT SENSEI THAT...THAT--THAT'S NYX! DEATH!" He rambles on waving his arms about in distress as he quickly assesses what should be done about the HARBINGER OF THE APOCALYPSE BEING IN THE SAME ROOM AS THEM. Nyx, he was sure that the terrible shadow had been vanquished years ago. He never knew it had the capability to have a human shape...or Souji's? Why did it look like their beloved leader? He growls, lowering himself in what could be very well interpreted as an aggressive stance. Ryoji narrows his gaze at this infernal shadow, his blood running hot at the name...'Nyx.' How long would that dreaded title follow him? Even in this realm, it lingers. And he HATES it.

"You would be wise to not address me as such you belligerent monstrosity." He hisses darkly to the beast. Whatever it was it was no ordinary shadow. It was hollow yet somehow teeming with life? How had such a simple creature worked itself up to such sentiency? Shadows that are tampered with, such as himself are able to achieve such feats but...a normal shadow? He glares at it, as if his acrid gaze could provide answers or simply wipe this pest from the earth. Ryoji already didn't like it, most shadows are cumbersome things and this one, albeit unique, is just as aggravating.  
"M-Monstrosity...?" Teddie grits out between his rage, practically fuming at the term used to describe himself. He wasn't a monster. He worked hard to exist, to become something /better/ than the mindless killing machines that were the others of his kind. This thing before him was the monster, manufactured in a lab by a cluster of ignorant humans not knowing the magnitude of their foolishness by messing with entities far greater than they could contain. Death, was an accumulation of various other shadows that as a whole acted as a greater counterpart to Nyx, the mother of all shadows to whom was supposedly slain. Why she, it, this THING was here, he didn't know. 

"Yosuke, why...why is this--WHERE'S SENSEI?!" He finds himself yelling again, balling up his fists and standing at the far end of the room, face twisted in a mixture of confusion and animosity.

Teddie just HAD to come out and yell like that. Yosuke wouldn't have been as anxious perhaps if it was later in the afternoon, but considering that he hadn't even known if his father was at Junes yet or not, he was rather worried that he might find out there was a blond bear teen living in his closet, and that was something he'd want to avoid for as long as possible. That wouldn't be very easy to explain to ANYONE not involved with all the television world and Persona stuff, and even to some of the Investigation Team it was an odd concept to grasp at first. Not that he blamed them, though. He just thought he was used to Teddie because he lived with the guy and his weird antics. 

Yosuke jumped up from his bed and went over to console the other, holding his hands up placatingly, and rather close to just running up to Teddie to clap his hands over his mouth already. "DUDE! Calm down, my dad might still be home!" he said with a sharp sort of louder whisper. Maybe he should have cared if Teddie called something /Death/, but at the moment, he was more worried for his dad stumbling upon this scene than his own life, surprisingly enough. "I know it's not Souji, but you don't have to go doing that! God dammit, be quiet!" he said, obviously annoyed, though curiosity pricked. What was Teddie even going on about? "I don't know, okay! I'll explain later, just calm down. First of all, I need an explanation of what's going on in simpler terms, it's still the morning. Besides, just because I have a Persona doesn't mean I know what you're talking about, talk to me so I'll understand please?" It wasn't expected Yosuke would understand much anyways; that was the usual for him, really. 

Teddie seethes, huffing as he lowers his voice, "Don't try to ameliorate me you ignoramus." He curls his hands into fists as he stands there fuming still, craning his neck to peer at Ryoji not Souji that was still seated on the bed. "That thing is /dangerous/ it shouldn't be here--shouldn't be alive." He attempts to explain in a calmer tone but failing miserably. It's not often that he drops the cutesy facade, whenever it's gone he starts tossing around words like a vocabulary wizard. It bothers himself, even though it's his true nature to speak in such a supercilious dialect. Teddie's grown used to acting, to pretending to be something other than a cryptic monster from a nefarious TV realm. At least he can find minimal comfort in the fact that his nature pales in comparison to the pure evil that emanates off of the other shadow.  
When Teddie started to use words he himself saved for essays, let alone barely knew, then he knew this was something perhaps worth panicking about. Still, Yosuke, unimpressed by how Teddie could have potentially woken his father, stood, eyes fixed on them, arms crossed as he intently listened to what could have been a very odd explanation that he himself could barely comprehend in the morning hours. "Yes please, some sort of coherent explanation would be nice." he said, biting the inside of his cheek for a moment before glancing to Ryoji.

Ryoji observes the irate notions of the other for a moment more, waiting until it quieted down before deciding to speak. "It appears that I have some explaining to do, for you at least."He says, directing his attention to Yosuke. Obviously, the other shadow knew of his identity and status but the human did not. It's expected, humans lack the strange pool of knowledge that shadows can pull from (those with any means of intellect that is.) Teddie taps his foot on the floor simmering still as he awaits the explanation.

"Where do I even begin..." He furrows his brow, casting a troubled look to the floor. He's done this before, explained the true nature of his identity, just to a different audience. With a shuddering breath he feels the familiar pang of guilt rise into the pit of his being. "I have, many shapes, many identities all of which are--used to be as dangerous as your companion had stated. I am the anthropomorphic personification of Death and following the events of a...group of persona users I grew to become to the appriser of Nyx, to whom is the harbinger of the apocalypse. All of this must sound very odious but it is in the past. Nyx, despite all of it's might and power was thwarted and put to rest--"  
Teddie interrupts with a murmur, "As it should be." Ryoji's gaze flickers from the floor to burn into Teddie hatefully, the bear makes a squeaking sound in response. "Nonetheless," He continues, "I should be /dead/ therefore, most of the malice you associate me with is nonexistent. This body that I am inhabiting, is not capable--as far as I know, to commit to any of the terrible acts of my past..."

Teddie grits his teeth harshly, folding his arms against his chest, "Nyx, aside from being the sole force to end the human-earth, is also the mother of all shadows..." He adds.  
Ryoji nods his head, solemn atmosphere hanging over himself still. "I...don't fully understand myself /why/ or /how/ I ended up in this shape...but if there was anything I could do to mend this clearly awful situation, I would." Teddie works over the information in his mind, trying to remember the events preceding the group having to flee the TV. "Sensei had...used a Persona, a really powerful one when that awful thing popped out of the chest. Was that you? Erm..." He racks his mind for the name of the Persona used, Souji had a habit (like most of team) to call them out by name. Thanatos, that's it. "Thanatos?" He inquires, tilting his head. "Yes, that is...another identity of mine. Thanatos is believed to be the bringer of death, which unfortunately, happens to be a trait of mine."  
Boy does he love talking about how evil and deadly he is, such a wonderful conversation. He's went through this once before, it meant more then but that doesn't take the edge of the pain. Even now, he feels sick talking about it, but unfortunately it's a truth he cannot avoid. Death, Nyx, Thanatos, Ryoji, all of those faces belonged to him (some more ghastly than others). His heart sinks and he lays back in the bed to make miserable sounds into the palms of his hands, wishing that he could return to the emptiness of being dead. At least there, his thoughts cannot follow him. Pain, sorrow don't exist when you're dead.

It was odd to hear that there were /other/ Persona users out there besides them. This power the Investigation Team had, Yosuke had thought it was unique to them alone. However, perhaps this wasn't the case now. Other Persona users, fighting Shadows. Except, most likely for a different purpose other than stopping a murderer from killing another in cold blood. But then, the thing of more concern at worth more concern perhaps was the fact that Ryoji was practically Death itself, a Shadow, in theory. Well, leave it to Yosuke to legitimately screw up again by bringing a lethal Shadow into his home. "Yeah, I /knew/ that Fool's Arcana was gonna backfire on him someday, just not like this... I mean, an Arcana with that much power just had to have a drawback, and this was probably it." Yosuke said with a sigh, shaking his head. 

"Look, I went back to Junes to go find Souji, because I didn't want to believe he just /died/ like that. And I go back in, and then I find him! I mean, it's not Souji, but at least it's his body, alright? I'm just not sure what to do anymore..." he said, running his fingers through his hair, leaving them there for moment before he brought his hand back down to his side. 

Then, of course, another thought of pressing matters attended to his mind. 

Yosuke immediately brought a hand up to his mouth. "No! Ugh, I /kissed/ him!" he recalled from the night before. Not that he was disgusted with Ryoji, but rather, disgusted with himself, and more disbelieving than anything else. He kissed /Souji's/ lips. Oh God. He had to wonder why it was more relieving that it had been Souji than anyone else; he had to worry for his own mind.  
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, quickly going over to the clothes hanging off the side of his bed to put them on, wearing his v-neck and putting on his white jacket, sporting his usual dark skinny jeans as he slipped on his headphones over his neck in a rush. "Well, we've got a lot to worry about! I have to make up a story to tell Souji's uncle, and then we have to explain /this/ to the rest of the team, and I have to start my shift at Junes and delete the footage of me kissing this guy in the aisles." he said, obviously annoyed with the schedule of the day.

Ryoji lays back in the bed still, listening to Yosuke work over the events of the previous night as well as expressing his concerns towards the Fool's arcana. The arcana, by which all is revealed. The Fool's arcana, the void by which all else is created, a very powerful arcana given it's numerical value of zero. Minato held the same arcana primarily, and mastered the remaining few by channeling the vast power of the Fool's void. He wonders, as he lies there, combing his fingers through this shape's infernal hair, whether or not this individual harnessed the same power. Perhaps, when his soul emerges again from the dark place in which it currently lingers, he will get more answers on the matter.  
The thoughts are brushed aside as he peers up at Yosuke as he recalls their brief moment in the department store. It wasn't all that bad considering for the most part they both believed each other were entirely different people. Ryoji snickers under his breath when witnessing the other wipe his mouth, thinking that it was a bit too late to be fussing over that. "Don't worry Hana-chan, It was a wonderful kiss. I'm sure the real owner of this body would have appreciated it more." He winks, knowing that the other most likely wouldn't see. 

Now that Yosuke thought about it, even if he /was/ that tired, how come he didn't think of it as anything when he just /accepted/ the kiss from Souji. He definitely couldn't have been /that/ happy to see his Partner, as relieved as he was that night, to go against his own usual mindset like that. It was disturbing to think about, seeing Souji in that sort of way, yet, there was some appealing aspect to it. Wait, /appealing/? There had to be some better word for that.... "Don't call me that in front of everyone else! It's weird!" he said to Ryoji, fixing his headphones slightly at his neck, fidgeting with them out of nervousness. 

Yosuke continues to fuss over his now trouble laden schedule, to which he is mostly to blame. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He states, simpering in response to the boy's irritation. "And what, leave me with...with /that/?" Teddie seethes, pointing a finger at Ryoji and growling under his breath just for the sake of making a point. Ryoji, in response gives him a look so heated that if eyes could make things spontaneously combust...Teddie would be ablaze.

"You guys are both coming with me, we still have a lot of explaining to do to everyone else, and even /I/ still don't get most of it. I don't know if I can get three people on my bike, but we're definitely gonna try." he said before grabbing his phone, dialing in the familiar number, then pressing it to his ear, hearing it ring several times before it went to voicemail. Huh. Sunday morning, there were only two people in the Dojima household that morning, most likely. Or maybe Dojima was out at work already. Whatever. "Um, it's me, Souji's friend, Yosuke! I just wanted to call to say that Souji was with me studying, and he's just fine! I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings! Thanks, have a nice day!" That little ending sounded more natural than before now that he had been forced to sound genuine with it because of picking up calls at Junes all the time. Hopefully that whole explanation would save his skin from getting killed by Dojima, who was very protective of his nephew, considering that if anything happened to him, he had a possibly very angry sister to deal with as a result. At least, that's what Yosuke envisioned to be the case. He huffed before shoving his phone into his pocket, going over to open the door of his room to look out into the short hallway. "Dad?" he called out. Upon hearing no reply, he immediately opened the door all the way, leading the two out. "Alright, let's get going." he said before swiping his set of keys off the hook and shoving those into his pocket too. 

This was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this headcanon that Teddie's got the capacity to use the same dialect as his shadow, he just doesn't typically take on that type of speech because it reminds him of how...well dark he can be! Ahhhh I also think that to some extent, shadows are aware of each other. Like, Teddie would know about Nyx and all.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this!


	5. Brand New You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation Team slowly makes there way to Junes to find out what happened to Souji, though the moment is bittersweet, everyone is glad that Souji is not entirely lost.

With a soft creak and pop of his joints Ryoji sits up from the bed and reaches over to unfold the uniform jacket he had removed in the previous night. Humming softly as he listens to Yosuke's attempt at contacting Souji's guardian; he smooths down the creases along the sleeves. This one, the body that he's inhabiting lives with his uncle. That is what Yosuke had mentioned earlier. He is left to wonder where Souji's mother and father reside? Are they dead? Ryoji has quite a lot of experience knowing people who's parents are both deceased. Knowing the members of SEES has lead him to a certain amount of tolerance to those /not/ having any parental figures. It occurs to him that some people would yearn for that type of independence, acting as a self-directing being in life, but others enjoy the support of a family. Perhaps it varies from human to human. 

Ryoji, by the end of the phone call is up and more or less ready to go. As ready as one can possibly feel when inhabiting another person's body. It's a difficult thing to cope with, feeling yourself beneath the skin of some body aside from your own. He barely had enough time to get used to being human at all, getting used to various human shapes is even more complex. The other shadow, stood in it's still very hostile stance, glaring daggers into his shape. Just how important was this Souji person? He should ask. "Who am I?" He starts, following Yosuke out of the room after a few curious glances down the hallway. "Like, what is the importance of this individual? You all seem to be very fond of him..." Teddie makes a sound of agreement, but is unable to find the correct assortment of words in order to depict the 'importance' of Souji.

Before he walks out of the door, he hears the question and freezes in his tracks, as if he had heard something akin to a gunshot. Perhaps a gunshot to his heart. That question struck a chord in him, and Yosuke wasn't sure why. He was his partner, his best friend, but there was some sort of feeling he had that he couldn't place. Perhaps Yosuke was just too DENSE and denying to get it through his head as to what that feeling truly was. "Yeah." he begins, staring at the door for a moment before he glanced over his shoulder at Ryoji, having to scan his eyes over Souji's body once more. How awful it was to know that there was something else in Souji's body other than /Souji/ himself. It was almost teasing him; Yosuke knew he almost had it all, almost could celebrate that he wasn't dead, only to find that Souji's soul was somewhere he knew naught, lost and trying to find its way back, he supposed. 

"Souji... He...is our leader, the one who keeps our team going through all this fear that hit Inaba. And...everybody loves him, it's hard not to. Maybe some of us...like him even more than others do." he said, staring at Ryoji before he coughed, clearing his throat and opening the door out, looking forward and keeping his gaze away from those different eyes. His voice had become like it had been at Junes that night, only perhaps less sleep-deprived and less fatigued, more self-observant than anything else. 

Leader, beloved by many and then some. The small note regarding some liking this Souji fellow more than others gets Ryoji into thinking that perhaps this boy is in a relationship already. Not that he would have any ideas as to /who/ this lover might be, he'll have to do some investigation on this matter at a later date. The next concept of interest is the "fear" in Inaba, just what exactly were these Persona-users fighting against? More and more questions arise the longer he lingers in this shape. Yosuke urges them out of the house in a tone that is painfully familiar. Why, why, why, does this boy have to sound so much like /him/. It's cruel, to hear Minato but not see him anywhere at all. Ryoji shuffles out of the home, trying with all of his might to not think of the blue-haired boy he's come to love so much, who he will surely never see again. His heart aches, sinks all the way to his shoes and no number of staying breaths will draw away his longing. It's tough, the harrowing /almost/. It's him but not quite, almost almost him. He thinks that, perhaps Yosuke is feeling the same way. He looks and sounds exactly like this dearly beloved Souji, just in spirit he is far from that. 

Yosuke had to think back to his life prior to Souji's soul leaving his body and after he had first met him. There wasn't... There wasn't one day that was absent of him, was there? If he didn't see and talk to Souji one day, then he'd at least be texting him. He had spent time with Souji every single day after meeting him, and now he was...gone. Hopefully just temporarily, but still. It...hurt in a way to be deprived of the whole of his best friend, left with now only a part of him to spend time with. Just seeing his face wasn't enough, he wanted to talk with him, he didn't even care if they didn't talk; Souji's presence alone was enough to leave Yosuke more than content. 

At least Souji isn't dead. 

Teddie shuffles out after the other two, still grumbling and giving Ryoji the most egregious stare he can muster. What had this group done /wrong/ to have NYX in their midst? Certain things are killed off for good reasons, he's one of those things.

"Come on, we gotta go." he said, locking the door once the two were out and hopping onto the seat of his bike, kicking off the brake and now centering the bike with his legs. Maybe just trying to think about something else that WASN'T Souji would help. Yeah.  
"Get on, see if both of you can hop on without shoving each other, will you? Teddie, you're light as hell, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Walking was not an option he wanted to take in this situation.

All of them would be riding on the same shoddy bike? Perfect. Teddie narrows his eyes at the velocipede, as if squinting at it and trying to imagine /how/ their bodies would be arranged actually helped. It didn't. They'd just have to experiment and hope for the best. Not that he adds any weight to the equation, without the substance of fluid or bones structures in his human shape, he's virtually weightless. A frightening thought, having no organs or anything inside to properly function yet acting as a living being. Overtime, he's grown accustomed to the fact that /nothing/ about him makes any sense, it's best to just go with it without driving himself mad with questioning. His shadow had pointed out, the favorability of ignorance. A good point. Though, it's ingrained in the essence of all sentient life, to question and seek reason behind...well, the impossibilities of life. Best not to dwell on the fundamental aspects of thought at a time like this, he thinks as he finds himself trying his damnedest to cling to Souji not Souji on this bike. Ryoji could fit on the back, but Teddie had to wrap both his arms and his legs around the other like some sloth-child in order to not just slide right off. It was a weird position and Ryoji makes the occasional squeak in sound of his discontent every now and again. In the event of having Teddie clinging to him so, he places his hands along Yosuke's hips in an attempt to not teeter backwards once the ride begins. "Once again, you are the chauffeur. Take us away, Hana-chan~!" They were yet to be in the presence of others, so he calls him Hana-chan once more, for the sake of the pleasantly flustered aura that is emitted from the boy when the phrase is uttered. Besides, he's got to have /something/ to say after being put in this awkward position.

Soon, the two were both on the bike, and if he hadn't started moving anytime soon, his feet would get cramps from all the strain he had to put at the tips of his feet to keep the bike from moving or toppling over. His feet almost slipped when he felt the other's hands at his hips and heard the name. His face was dusted over with a light red hue as he tried to draw his mind away from the fact that he felt /Souji's/ hands at his hips. They were firm yet gentle by the touch, and Yosuke had to REALLY STOP THINKING THESE SORTS OF THINGS. Like Ryoji had wanted, Yosuke was very flustered indeed, face feeling warm as he fidgeted slightly upon the touch. No, stop thinking abut that! It was best to keep focused on the bike so that they didn't end up crashing or something.

He pushed off with what little strength the tips of his feet gave him, immediately placing his feet at the pedals. He struggled to amount enough force to just get the bike moving to a constant speed, but once he had gotten passed that obstacle, the bike moved smoothly- or at least, as smooth as a broken bike like his could go. Often times he would stand from the seat and stop peddling, letting the wheels run for themselves a bit before he would sit back down and pedal a bit more. It was a natural tendency of his. That and the fact that it was a way to try and get Ryoji's hands a bit looser on his hips. Though, it seemed that the other was holding on regardless of what Yosuke did to avoid the inevitable. His riding showed evident experience despite his usual clumsiness. After all, it took years to get used to his broken down bike, only an experienced hand could use with the minimal amount of crashes and slip ups. He knew those little turns- especially with weight like this- meant a lot, determining whether they would topple over or not. Too small of a turn and they wouldn't move from their path at all, while too jerky of a movement to turn would cause them to fall over or maybe end up going in an uncontrollable path. Both were unfavorable, the latter even more so. Still, he whizzed by as quickly as he could with his piece of crap bike to Junes. 

Ryoji can't help but grin from ear to ear at the teen's rattled state, soaking in the warmth form Yosuke's shape that's even present in the spaces that his fingertips grace. Ah, humans and their quirks. Mayhaps, the one who likes Souji 'more than others' is really Yosuke. It's only an assumption, given the fact of how easily the other is worked up over the simplest turn of phrase that exits his lips. Also, they did kiss without question or hesitation in the aisles of Junes. Given, the other boy was quite tired in that state but nonetheless, there could have been /much/ more resistance on his part if he really felt nothing of this sort for Souji. Hm. Yet another thing to inquire about at a better time. For now, he focusses on remaining seated on this atrocious bike-ride. 

\---

Naoto let out a sigh as he walked along the edge of the quiet road, hat low at his head as if to cover his face, face solemn as always, except now with a darker atmosphere to match. Sure, he would go to Junes like they always did on Sunday to just spend some time. But...now he just felt sheer guilt for it. What could he do? Souji was gone, stuck in the television world, and potentially /dead/. Mendacious as it seemed, perhaps Souji would have been better left for dead; he would have wanted it, as opposed to everyone losing their lives to that fierce, unforgiving force. Just then, he heard the familiar ricketing of Yosuke's bike from behind, but it sounded slightly...different. As if he had extra weight on the ramshackle ride. And he knew that Teddie was a frequent stowaway, but he was no addition to any weight, really. As the teen passed by though, Naoto held onto his hat, Yosuke riding through and causing the detective's long coat to move with the wind. Although, as he caught the glance of Yosuke's passengers, he saw Teddie and...Souji? "S-SENPAI, WAIT! Y-YOSUKE!" he called out to the driver of the hellish bicycle, now starting to run to Junes, one hand holding his hat to his head as he sprinted; his eyes weren't fooling him, he knew that. This was going to be a very interesting day. 

\---

His ears prick at the voice calling out to them, although when he turns his head to see, only a flash of blue is visible in their hair-trigger pace. Yet another Minato-esk shape to haunt him he assumes, but this time in appearance. 

He worries if the creature clinging to him so harshly has indented his skin with it's grasp. That ride, could have been worse he thinks rather optimistically. At least they didn't tumble off into the streets. Teddie detaches from Ryoji's back like a leaf in the wind. A still rather resentful leaf, but a leaf regardless. Dusting himself off as if Ryoji's touch had tainted him with some lingering evil, Teddie grumbles in disgust. How strange it will be to lead the other around, typically it's the other humans who're constantly directing him. "Er, This way." He says, waving for Souji, no, Ryoji to follow him around to the food-court. "This is kinda like, where everyone meets up. There's a whole group of Persona-users in this town and we all work together. Meeting up here has become quite habitual." Teddie makes effort to explain, rounding the area and glancing back every now and again to make sure Ryoji hadn't wandered off somewhere. "Are you implying that /you/ are a part of the group as well?" Ryoji asks, eyeing the colorful landscape of the unfamiliar space. It was a rather aesthetically pleasing little food-court, makes sense that people would gather in such a place. Teddie nods his head, "I've got a Persona, just like everyone else." Ryoji scoffs, knitting his brows in confusion. Shadows can't really have Personas, seeing that the Persona is literally just a tame version of a shadow drawn forth from a well far deeper than the pool in which shadows accumulate. "Humans are usually very adamant in their efforts to kill shadows, it's odd to see them working alongside one. You really must be something." Ryoji states as he takes a seat at one of the various tables. Teddie sits across from him, working over the other's words in his mind. There was truth in the statement. Even the Investigation Team he's come to love so much kills shadows regularly, it's normal to destroy things as cumbersome and evil. They just don't view him in the same fashion, mostly due to his efforts to seem docile and puny in the beginning. Teddie doesn't know if they simply don't care whether or not he's a shadow, or if they've simply forgotten the his potential to be virulent. "I don't know." He finally responds, rather softly too. Ryoji picks up on the other shadow's aversion and worry in regards to that topic and chooses to say nothing more in relevance to it. 

While the two were talking at the food court, Yosuke had snuck into the (thankfully empty) security room and deleted the footage from the night before. Of course, he had watched it over, and he felt his ears get warm at the dark sight of himself and the other kissing. It was oddly appeasing as it was embarrassing despite there being him to only witness the event. After he watched the footage of him wandering aimlessly around the dark aisles with a flashlight, he quickly deleted all of it before heading out and starting his shift- or at least, pretending to start his shift; he just wasn't in the mood to do any real work. 

Naoto, eventually getting to Junes much later than Yosuke had, arrived at the food court well out of breath. He leaned himself against a nearby pillar before he caught sight of Teddie, the detective immediately springing back to life despite his obvious need for air. "T-Teddie! Where is--" he cut himself off, going silent after seeing Souji sit across from the blonde. That couldn't be. How was he..?  
"S-Souji-senpai...? But how...? You were..." the detective was stuck in disbelief, eyes widened slightly. "We all thought--" He was cut off by a cough that stirred from him, his body's way of telling him to shut up and breath. He panted, breathing heavily from his sprint. His pale skin was a bit flushed, Naoto leaning on a chair as he tried to catch his breath. He took his cap off, running his fingers through his hair with a heavy exhale. 

Soon, however, he looked up at Souji once more, staring intently at him until his eyebrows furrowed. His observation skills failed him naught, and as he scanned the other over with his sharp, steely-blue gaze, he noticed something completely off. Just the way he composed himself was completely different, totally unlike Souji. And his /eyes/... They weren't like the upperclassman's at all. Immediately, Naoto straightened and, as swift as ever, reached into his coat and quickly pulled out his pistol, aiming it directly at the other, expression serious and almost hostile in a way. "You're not Souji. Who are you?" The detective was still breathing quickly, but betrayed his body's need over the fact that this wasn't Souji. 

Ryoji raises a brow as an unfamiliar voice echoes out into the space, to be honest, everything about this town is recondite, he shouldn't be surprised at this point. Tilting his head he finds that this was most likely the Minato-looking individual they had passed along their speedy ride here. At that time, they were only a blur, but now Ryoji gets to take in the heartbreaking similarities. Especially when they take of the (albeit pretty cute) cap. He too exhales, but out of languish instead of exertion. Teddie, wordlessly, anticipates the oncoming explosion when the observant detective will take note of the screaming difference in Ryojji's character. Although, he didn't perceive the other drawing arms against him. 

Yosuke, having snuck out of aisle clean up, got to head out to the food court. He immediately ran over once catching sight of Naoto hold a gun directly at Ryoji's face. Not a good sight to start off the talk. "N-Naoto! C-Calm down, it's fine!" he said as he went over to the smaller other, about to hold out his hands in a placating manner before the detective glared daggers at Yosuke through a mere sidelong glance, not even bothering to shift his head, as his main focus was on this /imposter/. Yosuke backed off and felt a jolt go through him at the sharp glare, Naoto shifting his gaze back at his target. "Quiet. This /isn't/ Souji, and I'm ready to find out who he is one way or another." Well, Yosuke couldn't have said he didn't expect this happening. Naoto /was/ a detective after all, of course he'd see those subtle differences that most would have just dismissed.

Ryoji now finds himself staring down the barrel of the pistol, taking a few moments to recognize that this was most likely /not/ an evoker, but a real firearm. His eyes cross as he works to examine the internal chamber of the weapon curiously, no hint of fear in his gaze whatsoever. He's already died, in several lives in various ways. Death, does not scare him. One grows quite tolerant to the concept when one is the anthropomorphic personification of death itself. Cutting his eyes to Yosuke who makes feeble effort to pacify the bluenette, he chuckles lightly. "It appears I have yet another explanation at hand." Ryoji's, well, Souji's lips curl into a smile as he prepares for another grueling depiction of his identity. "I'm Ryoji, Ryoji Mochizuki. Somehow, someway, this Souji character summoned me...from where I know not. Last time I was aware of myself, I was very well dead. Depending on your perspective, I can be considered quite...inauspicious in nature." Teddie rolls his eyes and slumps against the table, "Stop dancing around it! You're Death! Nyx! Pretty bad and definitely EVIL and you're stuck in Sensei's body for some reason!"  
"Temporarily." Ryoji adds, clenching his fists as the shadow continues to refer to him /as/ Nyx when really, he was only a portion of Nyx. These ignoramuses have no idea that Nyx is truly a celestial body hovering over the earth each night, almost peacefully. The moon.

Another explanation? Then he had explained this to Teddie and Yosuke before? Then how come he hadn't been informed? He had been up the whole night, trying to blame it on his work on the cases, but it was pointless; he knew it had been due to sheer /disgust/ plaguing himself because of their poor work of saving their leader. And he was just hearing about this /now/? Naoto couldn't believe it. Perhaps anger couldn't have been reasonable, however, and he easily composed himself to listen to this much-needed elaboration.  
To be honest, however, after the explanation, the detective was left...well, speechless. What could have been said in this situation? Teddie had stated that this...Ryoji character was dangerous, /malicious/ even. Still, there was some sort of trust put into this person that couldn't be explained. Besides, Naoto wouldn't pull the trigger on Souji's body, of course not.  
The detective hesitated a moment before he sighed, hand faltering before he put the pistol back into his coat, crossing his arms as he gave a solemn yet aggressive look to the other who had been somehow placed inside Souji's body. "I can't say I'm completely satisfied. But...I'll refrain from any outbursts like that again. My apologies." he said as he glanced over Ryoji once more. What an odd concept to grasp, really.

Yosuke was relieved that there would be no shots that day at the food court, now feeling a bit better about stepping closer to the detective. "I went back into Junes in the middle of the night to look for Souji, and I found him. Well...sort of. I mean, after seeing the reaction now...I'm not exactly sure how easily this'll spill for the rest of the team. But I'm hoping that we'll get this under control soon." he expressed, his concerns rather glaring. How /would/ everyone else act if the usually cool-headed detective reacted like /that/? Yosuke had to worry somewhat.

"Is anyone aware of the exact events that occurred the last time Souji was in reign of his own body? I can't acsess any of his memories..." Ryoji says, looking almost expectantly to the little group surrounding him. "Were there any others there...? When you say 'group of Persona-users' I assumed there would be a few more in the company." 

\--------  
The previous night was hell, literal hell.  
As literal as it could get for a teenage girl fighting to preserve her identity, slaying demons, and trying to solve a murder. Life is pretty stressful, but this is downright crippling. Rise stumbled into her house like the dead walking, having to strain herself to put on a happy face for her grandmother. She was a sweet woman, wouldn't go on to bed until the teen got home and she knew she was well. "How was school today dear? Have fun with your friends?" She asks, the typical array of questions she asks every day almost.  
"Yeah granny, we stayed at Junes for the most of it. It's nice to settle down every once and a while, it's...relaxing." She responds, flashing her grandmother a warm smile to which is returned in fold. "I'm worn out, going to head onto bed. Goodnight." With that she doesn't utter another word, doesn't have the energy to at this point. Rise hovers over to her bed, fully clothed and just flops over into the pillows and weeps. He's gone. Souji is lost to the cryptic TV world, that awful place that swallows up people and tears them apart. He's gone. It's all her fault. She should have warned them sooner, should have told them to leave that chest and call it a day. Why hadn't she? Why hadn't Himiko seen the contents and informed her. "You're worthless...you should have--I should have...SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING!" She cries into her sheets, gripping handfuls of the fabric in her fists and pulling at it with all her might. She releases only to burry her face deeper into the bed and beat her hands violently against the covers until her arms grow numb and her lungs howl for oxygen. 

He was gone.

 

She curls up into a ball, tugging at her hair and biting her lip furiously. It was all a bad dream, had to be. The next day would come and she'd see her cool senpai again and they'd solve this murder together and everything would be perfect. Rise clings to that hope as she writhes about in waves of sorrow and anger crash into her like the harsh waves of the sea. She remains like this until the morning like pools in from her windows, cutting through her like tiny daggers and willing her to awaken. It didn't even feel like sleep, it felt more like a blink of time passed her by and then suddenly turned over to the next day. She had slept in all her clothes, uniform crumpled to no end. With shaky legs she forces herself to rise from the bed, trembling as she works to peel herself away from her clothing. Today was a sweatpants and hoodie day, a day for mute colors and no hair-ties nor makeup. A quick glance at the mirror hanging on her bedroom door and she knows she looks like hot shit. Souji's dead and she's sure everyone else looks like shit too, no one will care what she looks like. How could she even face them like this? Knowing that she could have prevented this somehow. She was the group's support system, she took over for Teddie...would he have anticipated this outcome? Maybe so. She trudges out from her room to find her grandmother already out for work at the Tofu shop, Rise wouldn't be coming in today, she'd have to make up and excuse later. Right now all that mattered was getting to Junes to see...to see the broken state of the Investigation Team. 

Along her way there, she finds a thick fog clinging to the morning air. Almost bumping into a few pedestrians as she makes effort to walk through town in the brume. She does bump into someone familiar eventually, growling under her breath half-expecting some idiot camera man to snap a photo of her disheveled appearance. "Excuse me." She hisses bitterly, trying to press past the tall figure she had collided with.  
"You...You on your way to Junes too?" Kanji answers softly, not even phased by her acrid tone. She perks up slightly, squinting through the haze to see the familiar underclassmen before her.  
"Oh, yeah...I bet everyone else is too." She mumbles, sticking to his side as she continues her slow journey.  
He looks just as bad, just as tear-jerked and tired as she probably looked. At least she could find a little comfort in the fact that others were equally as distraught. 

"Y'know, It's always the dumb side characters in the movies that die...the unimportant people that no one really cares about. It's not fair that the main guy goes down, never is. The leader....the leader's supposed'ta make it all the way to the end." He says grimly and Rise finds the analogy quite fitting, nodding her head as she wobbles along weakly. "I can't--can't believe it." Another dry sob rips at her throat like acid, but she only has the energy to sniffle and cough. 

Eventually the two make it to Junes, walking around the side and indoors to head up to the food court. "I don't even want to see...the looks on their faces." She whispers, waiting for the elevator door to open, clenching her fists against the baggy fabric of her sweatpants. "Me either." 

\----

Chie barely slept that night, only eventually passing out when her body gave up to the fatigue of grief and sheer pain. What could they have done? What even happened to Souji? He was probably dead, that was what. She cried her eyes out that night when she knew there was no one there to hear her, even crying herself to sleep, pillow wet with her tears. It was horrible, how no one could have done anything, how that dreaded Persona caused all this, that stupid Shadow that appeared, and the stupidity on their part for using up all their energy in their initial battles instead of conserving it. In the morning, she found herself tired, not willing to move. What was the point now that their leader was gone? She lazily picked up her phone, thinking for a moment to text Yukiko before she realized that perhaps it would have made things even worse. Best to just head to Junes and hope everyone else was there too. That way, it would be like indirect consolation, and maybe there would be everyone there to cry about it again with her; she wouldn't be the only one, she suspected. 

Chie soon tried to at least start the day normally- no. How could any Sunday be normal /without/ Souji? The Investigation Team would be incomplete, it would always be incomplete, she thought at this point. How would they even explain this to Dojima or anyone? There was a hole that would be left empty now in their lives, and they could have done something to stop that. She put on her normal clothes, soon groggily heading out to Junes. She walks there less willingly now, but yet still trudges on.  
\----

Yukiko's eyes stung with the heaviness akin to tears. Sleep, hadn't come to her at all that night. She tossed and turned in her bed, until eventually getting up to work through the events of the night. On paper and sticky notes she draws it all out, every moment leading up to the chest and preceding. They had fought several teams of shadows in the fights before the reaper, nothing too overwhelming in power but after the eighth round of it the group had grown tired. They could have turned back then, could have exited the secret base and the TV and it would have still been a sufficient training day. According to the map, that of which she also took the time to draw out from memory in this sleepless night, they had explored all but that one fated hall. Perhaps, for the sake of completion they ventured down that way. Rise, could have predicted the outcome of the chest...given the tremendous luck they had received on all other chests that day. Why had no one noticed? Why didn't Rise, or Teddie for god's sake /say something/ about it. Yukiko's been with them all this time, every excursion as the party's healer...why had she not saved up energy enough to heal them. Why hadn't she taken precautionary measures? Who's fault...was this? The morning sun creeps in and pricks at her skin, she barely notices, tilting her head and squinting into the light. Morning already? Yukiko's eyes wander to the desk, observing her obsessive work at trying to make sense of the night's events. That monstrous Persona, Thanatos. She scrawls out the name on a sticky note, glaring at it as if it would do them any good. It was powerful, too powerful for Souji to wield and it had gone berserk. Perhaps it was his own negligence that lead to his demise. What a fool. She cringes as she makes effort to rise from the work desk, joints popping angrily at her for staying in that position for so long. 

She might as well head to Junes, to soak in the misery once more. She hadn't event he spirit to spend the night crying, nor the care to try and sleep. Yukiko thinks for a moment of how bad she'll look, how unkempt and draws a brush weakly through her raven hair. No one is going to be looking very spiffy that day, she knows this already but makes a point of trying to collect herself...just to feel normal.  
No messages from Chie, from anyone that morning. She could only hope that they were already at the food court.

\---  
The sight before Rise is enough to make her chest burst. He's there, right fucking there with Naoto and Teddie and Yosuke. Living, breathing, Souji Seta. A cry of joy, confusion, and utter surprise escapes her and if she could fly she would have. Rise sprints over to them, hopping over the chairs and flogging the silver-haired boy with all the strength her tired shape can muster. "SENPAI! OH MY GOD--YOU, YOU'RE OKAY!!!" She shrieks, wrapping her arms around him and as she collides with him roughly. This leads to the two falling entirely into the floor, Ryoji squeaking in shock as the air is knocked out of him and Rise sobbing apologies into the side of his face. Kanji at this point, couldn't bring himself to even move. Standing a ways away, closer to Naoto than anyone else and taking it all in. "But...but...he." He stutters, bringing his hands up to his face and willing himself not to just break down on the spot. "Senpai, you scared the shit outta us."

Ryoji is overwhelmed by the sudden shift in atmosphere, oh how he had underestimated the importance of this boy. He meant a lot to them, seeing that currently he has a girl screaming and crying into his neck as they lay on the ground.  
"A-Ah...there is m-more of them! Um, I'm sorry to inform you but I am not...who you think I am." The girl stirs, lifting her head from the other and narrowing her already tearful eyes at him. Kanji too makes a sound of confusion in response. "I am, Ryoji Mochizuki...and I do not know how nor why I am in this body but unfortunately I a--"  
"Where's senpai?" Rise asks, voice devoid of emotion as she sits up abruptly. "I don't know...he is...somewhere in here, just not actively in control of--" "Give. Him. Back." She growls, body shaking with all the might and raw anger of a volcano about to erupt, her hands quickly fitting around the fake-souji's neck and shaking him against the ground furiously. "WHERE IS SOUJI?! PUT HIM BACK!! PUT HIM BACK NOW! NOW! NOW!" She screams, shaking him still. Ryoji makes choking sounds of distress as the idol attacks him in a fit of confusion and rage. Teddie jumps up and waves his arms about, "Rise! Stop it, Sensei still needs a body to come back to! Quit!"

The detective, once seeing the happy idol, knew how quickly that would soon shift once the truth was revealed. He looked up at Kanji, who had stepped closer, seeing the incredulous expression on his face. Before the detective could reveal anything, however, Ryoji was already talking, and that didn't do him any good, it seemed. Naoto sprung to the scene, grabbing Rise by the shoulder and trying to drag her away from the other. "Rise, stop! It's still Senpai's body!" he said, Yosuke also coming over as well and trying to split the two, managing to move Ryoji away a bit, Naoto on the other side holding Rise back from hurting the other any more. He had half a mind to get Kanji to hold Rise for him, but refrained from asking, holding the idol himself, even ready to console her if need be. 

Yosuke crouched next to Souji's body, holding Ryoji at his shoulders as he exhaled. "You okay? Nothing hurt, right?" The teen felt something in him snap a bit when he almost added the "partner" bit to the end of his inquiry. It just wouldn't work, it wasn't /him/. He sat the other up against his crouched body, looking down at him with some concern. 

Then, he started to worry when he realized that they would have to do this again when Chie and Yukiko came. He was especially worried about Chie, however, considering that even Rise wasn't violent and she bursted out like that. Who knows what would happen when Chie arrived.

Rise fights weakly against Naoto's grasp, trembling as she makes feeble attempts to pry his grasp away. "S-Senpai! Why--where did he go! Bring him back! Br-bring--" Her voice dissolves into sobs and she all but goes rag-doll in the detective's hold, shivering as tears pool at her eyes once more. She couldn't take much more of this, the emotional roller coaster wearing her thin down to the core. First it was the earth-shattering thoughts on Souji's death, now it was the happiness of seeing him in once piece, tied together with the confusion and disappointment of him only /half/ there.

When Rise ceased her pointless struggle, Naoto holds her close, trying to give her the consolation she obviously needed. Her tears stained his coat, but it didn't exactly matter; no one was taking this situation so easily. After all, no one could exactly be ecstatic about it, even if Souji wasn't technically dead. It just /wasn't/ Souji there, and so no one could be happy, only relieved somewhat that his soul was somewhere hidden away, overtaken by this Ryoji figure. The detective looked up at Kanji with the idol still in his arms with a ponderous expression. "This is an equally confusing situation for Mochizuki as well, but for now, we have to remain calm and formulate a plan to work this out." Naoto suggested with a sigh, tilting his cap a bit more on his head before wrapping his arms tighter around the trembling body of the crying teen. 

"Are you like a ghost--or somethin'? How can he not be in control of /his/ body?" Kanji questions as the squabble calms down. This made /no/ sense. Very little in the recent ongoings in Inaba made much sense to him, but this was way out there. 

Ryoji wheezes, gazing up at Yosuke like a deer in headlights. It was reasonable to be a little rattled after having someone try and wring your neck. The air returns to his lungs slowly and he closes his eyes to stay the nauseating spin of the world around him. That was worse than being threatened with a gun, not that he was really /afraid/ of being strangled, it was just more of a shock. "I have..." He sucks in a shacky breath, trying to sit up properly again, "I have underestimated the importance of this Souji."  
Yosuke looked back down at Ryoji with a light chuckle. "You have no idea." If Yosuke hadn't been so tired and drained when he stumbled upon Ryoji initially, then he probably would have reacted just the same upon learning he truth. Maybe he would have even acted worse. After all, it was a painful experience to be so joyful and then brought back down so suddenly to start to grieve again. Still, he couldn't just /disregard/ him like he was just some dust waiting to be wiped away; Ryoji was a being with feelings and a consciousness, just like they were. 

The elevator, seemed to take a thousand years to get to the next floor. Yukiko exits, wandering over to the table where everyone seemed to be huddling...around Rise and was that Souji? She stops dead in her tracks and whispers, "He's...here?"

Soon enough, Chie had also arrived at the food court of that familiar store, showing right after Yukiko had. Immediately, her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw /Souji/ lying there, being held by Yosuke, with Naoto holding a broken Rise in his arms and Kanji and Teddie standing aside. This whole scene was a wreck, and as she stood next to Yukiko, she could only just stare at Souji. "You..." her eyes teared, the liquid beading at her eyes before they spilled over her cheeks. "YOU DUMBASS!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" she yelled with anger at the gray-haired teen, grasping to Yukiko and crying into her arm. "I-I'LL HURT YOU SO BADLY Y-YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO WALK ANYMORE!" she yelled into Yukiko's arm, voice muffled as her knees went weak. It was so overwhelming, these emotions. No one seemed to know how to react to them. 

Yosuke kept quiet, considering that if he said a word to Chie at this state, he'd probably get beat up. Then again, he'd probably get beat up regardless. He could only sit there and watch the break down and hope that someone would explain the situation for him.

Rise continues to tremble in her emotional crash, gripping onto Naoto's coat like a lifeline, having not the slightest ounce of strength to lift herself from the ground. "Bring...bring him ba--ck" A hiccup disrupts her voice and she croaks, burring her face in the bluenett's chest, she couldn't think of anything else to do but cry right about now.  
Yukiko takes a moment to register Chie's presence, the lack of sleep and mix of emotions weighing heavily on her mind. She tilts her head, peering down at Chie who clung to her desperately and screamed into the fabric of her shirt. "Ch-Chie." She murmurs, wrapping her free arm around her and petting her hair. Her gaze soon lifts again to Souji and even in her tiredness, she senses something wrong. They should be celebrating, if he was indeed completely back. No one seemed overly pleased and this troubled her deeply. "What's wrong? Souji...?" Yukiko's voice is hoarse as she speaks, and Ryoji perks up at her directed speech. It seemed about now would be a good time to get up off the ground. He wavers, pushing up on the bench seat until he's standing again. The eyes of these humans boring into him like searing coals, oh how he had misinterpreted the importance of this individual. With a wary sigh, he decides to speak up again. Hopefully this would be the last time. 

"Unfortunately, I am not Souji. My name is Ryoji and /temporarily/ by means I do not know, I am in this person's body." He states, gripping onto the edge of the table and eyeing the new girls in the hopes he will not be attacked again. Yukiko narrows her gaze, looking at Souji-Ryoji in a new light. So that's what was off. He wasn't Souji at all. With a sinking heart she lets out a shuddering breath, tears would be spilling from her eyes at the utter /disappointment/ of this knowledge. "Thanatos..." She murmurs.  
Ryoji makes a face of shock, how is it that she knows that title...? "Thanatos, that's you isn't it? The...the Persona, that Souji had tried summoning." Yukiko continues, noticing the strange boy's reaction to the name. "I think...I think I have an idea as to how this happened." Being depressed and confused wasn't getting this team anywhere, she decides, pulling the distraught Chie over to the table with her and urging the girl to sit. She had spent all of the previous night theorizing the outcome of that battle, and this, luckily was something she could make effort to explain. At least toss out a few ideas. Ryoji watches her movements, wary of the shorthaired one who had threatened him. 

"Um," Yukiko starts, having to focus her sleep-deprived mind in order to make her words have sense. "I think that, Souji messed up by summoning you. If...If a Persona, is stored inside of our souls, theoretically...this would just be a flip-flop of that."  
Teddie tilts his head in question, not quite sure of what she means by 'flip-flop'. "Like, if when our Persona's aren't being used...they go back in our souls, because we control them and that is where they stay. Like, Souji has hundreds of Persona's floating around in his soul...but they're all one's that he can control. Thanatos, that's you Ryoji, happened to be...too strong, so instead of going back into Souji's soul when you were done fighting that reaper thing, from the chest, you might have just washed out Souji's soul." Yukiko rambles, waving her arms about slowly as she speaks as if to illustrate some unseen thoughts in her hands. "That is...what I think at least."

"So like, Senpai's soul is...stuck in his own soul?" Kanji asks, royally confused. This is only getting more convoluted and weird, if that's even possible at this point. Yukiko nods her head, slumping a little against the table and bringing a hand up to rub her forehead.

When Yukiko sits Chie down, her body immediately responds, sitting with the other as she wiped her tears with her sleeve. She sniffled constantly, as if trying to get herself to stop. But like Yukiko, she noticed something off. Why was everyone else so sad? The atmosphere just wasn't right. Although, she hadn't mustered up the energy to speak up about it, however.  
Listening to this whole possible explanation for things did naught to clear anything up for Chie, but now she realized that there was no conscious Souji at the moment for her to be angry at, and so her temper diminished, yet she still clung to Yukiko, seeking her comforting aura. This individual /wasn't/ Souji, but Ryoji? Whoever that was. But then when would they get Souji back? It was just endless questions going through her mind, and probably everyone else's minds as well.

So this boy, Souji, was trapped within his own soul? That's most unfortunate. Ryoji himself ponders on this concept. He's experienced this first hand, being confined to a shape that is entirely your own yet, only being offered a small window to the outside existence around that body. Minato's shape, for the most part felt as if it were his own. For seven years, he lived inside that body, peering out into his world through filtered blinds. He eventually escaped, grew to be his own singular existence yet...still felt tied to him, perhaps that was the primary influence to him pursing a relationship with Minato. Anyway, Souji might be in the same position he was for seven years...hopefully his term of indirect imprisonment wouldn't last as long. He could feel the other there, stirring in light of this situation. Ryoji takes a moment to draw himself back into the conversation again, attention falling upon the boy who looked a whole-lot like Minato. They're observant, good at anatomizing information despite it's theoretical nature in this sense. 

Naoto listened intently, still holding Rise in his arms before giving a curt nod. "Indeed. This is a possibility we need to keep in mind. After all, it does sound completely probable, and we have no other leads to follow." the detective said, the usually reticent teen now lengthening his speech, put into this sort of deduction mode. This was his expertise, and he wouldn't let this trump him. He would help investigate this for everyone's sake and sanity. "In a way, yes, Souji would be stuck inside his own subconscious, assuming that this is all true. Mochizuki would be subduing Souji-senpai's soul and pushing it down to where it may not resurface. Of course, by the looks of the situation, this doesn't seem to be intentional on Mochizuki's part, and so there would be no blame on anyone." he explained, shooting an almost acrid glance at Yosuke, who seemed to be blaming himself and everyone else for their mistakes. But how exactly would they solve this? "This remains questionable, and so it seems it will be for the most part. However, Mochizuki." he called to the other, shifting his attentive gaze to the other. "If there is anything you may know or come across during your time here in Inaba and Senpai's body, then please don't hesitate to let us know. I assume you are in possession of Souji-senpai's phone? My number is registered in his caller list, feel free to text or call any new knowledge." he informed before finding something else dawn upon him. "Ah. I don't think I've introduced myself... My name is Naoto Shirogane. It's a...pleasure to meet you." 

Yosuke smiled a bit, getting up and stretching his arms. He had already the time to get over this mourning for his partner's soul; now he just had to marvel at how /lucky/ Ryoji was. Naoto barely talked that much to anyone new, getting to see him in his detective mindset was rather fun. And at least now they were getting somewhere, closer now to solve their predicament.

Phone. Oh, yes, the phone. Having been snapped back into reality again from his observations he begins to fish around in his pockets, searching for anything resembling this boy's phone. He hadn't made effort to remove anything that he had stored inside this uniform jacket, or otherwise, so if it is there beforehand it should still be. After a bit of humming and furrowing his brow, he eventually locates the item in question. It's a rather old phone. He fishes it out from Souji's pocket, turning it over in his hand. Was it a track phone? Just how long has this person had the same phone? He narrows his eyes at it, "I'll make sure...to keep you posted in any developments regarding Souji." He says, still examining the phone as he speaks. 

 

Yosuke takes sight of Ryoji grabbing Souji's phone, glancing over it for a bit. Souji's same old phone. It looked a bit worn, as always. To be honest, Yosuke liked Souji's phone much better than his own; it seemed more fitting for a guy like him anyways, what with his clumsy nature and his beaten up bike. He'd be better off getting a Nokia instead of his newer phone, which could potentially break soon if he wasn't careful (which he never was). Even with his durable, orange case like that. 

Naoto Shirogane. That's the only name, aside from Yosuke and the other shadow named Teddie that he's received. The girl who tried to strangle him was Rise? He swears that he's heard that name before at some point in his time being alive in Port Island. He peers around the rest of the crew crowding about the table. Ryoji knew not the names of the two girls seated, nor that of the tall boy with bleached hair.

"Er, I guess we should all be introducing ourselves, since you--ya'know, don't know all of us." Kanji says, rather awkwardly. At least, in this introduction he meets someone in a more /normal/ fashion. The first time he met any of these guys was when they were suspecting him of being the next murder victem, followed by them getting to know the darker sides of himself...not the introduction he was looking for. Most, were inclined to dislike him or just plain ignore him, so in a way, he's glad to have met these weirdos, even if it was a rather unconventional meeting. "The name's Kanji, Kanji Tatsumi." He finishes, having concluded his internal drabble for the moment. Ryoji nods his head in response, looking to the cluster of girls next. 

Rise slowly, weakly, pats Naoto's shoulders to signal her readiness to stand. With a wheeze and a snuffle she pushes up from her crumpled position to take a seat at the table like the rest. "R-Rise Kujikawa." She murmurs, resting her head on the table and wringing her fingers through her hair. Yukiko goes next, only after a yawn tears through her words, "I'm..." The yawn. "Yukiko Amagi." Perhaps staying awake all night fussing over all of this was unwise.

The detective glanced over the phone in his hand as well; it was definitely Souji's. "Thank you." he said with a curt nod. "We would all appreciate it." Even if perhaps he could only make extrapolations of the sort with any of this new information, as this was a topic never before breached, anything new would be helpful in bringing Souji back to them. Though, they weren't being selfish, were they? Kicking Ryoji out from that new body of his was not unreasonable? After all, it wasn't just the people around him that this absence of the real Souji affected, but it affected Souji himself, and wherever he was down inside his own body, he most likely wasn't appreciating the fact that he had no control over his own body. Yet, Naoto could see it in his eyes; the other perhaps enjoyed this time back in the world of the living. Hm. He was broken out from his thinking when Rise patted his shoulders, standing slowly with Rise and letting her use him as support until she got to the table. He stood aside, crossing his arms with a light sigh.

Chie brought it to her to raise her head from Yukiko's arm, wiping her tears and sniffling her mucus away as she tried to look as presentable as possible. "I-I'm Chie Satonaka." Perhaps hurting the other wasn't a probable solution to this now dissipating anger, so sitting it out would help, she thought. She clung onto her arm, seeking for more comfort as she tried to recover herself. 

Yosuke felt that he should have been the one to worry the most, to be breaking down. But he had assumed Souji's soul was still somewhere there for his own sanity, and perhaps that was what kept him from crying so hard. Wherever his best friend was, he hoped that he was alright. Hang on, Souji, the teen said encouragingly in his mind.

Yukiko observes the ongoings of the others in a bit of a haze, her head throbbing with the ache of sleeplessness. She senses the aura of pain and distress from Chie, pulling her closer into a tight embrace. Lacking the energy to break down into sorrow as the others had, she simply takes to comforting the other. This was no funeral, if her theory proved correct, Souji could eventually be summoned from within himself as if he were a Persona but, not. Thin fingers comb through Chie's hair as Yukiko murmurs softly to her, "It'll be okay, he's not gone."

Rise lifts her head, fists still firmly lodged in her wreck of hair. "Okay." She says, collecting herself. "What now? We just fuck around until Senpai comes back? Just have Ryoji...try and pretend to be him until he returns?" A dry laugh trickles into her words and she trembles, "Good luck with that." She finishes. Ryoji tilts his head, offering her a troubled glance. Why had she said it like /that/? Just exactly what kind of life does this Souji boy live? Ryoji is left to ponder, knitting his brows and searching in the idol's features for the answer to his questioning. Nothing comes from it aside from her amaroidal grin. 

The tone the idol took on gave Yosuke a sudden chill. Damn, that was harsh. It sounded like.... like something he himself would have uttered, perhaps under his breath, in his own private space, or perhaps just yelled out in plain irritation and vanity in the hopelessness of the situation. Ironically, as he had observed before, he was the one who was the most optimistic at the moment, despite the fact that he should have been the most depressed. Naoto wasn't optimistic, he was realistic, not depressed. He wasn't the type to give off that optimistic vibe anyways, which was a good thing in many ways, especially now in this situation. Hopefully everyone would lighten up soon so they could actually get something /done/. Moping around had its benefits, but now, it had none, it seemed. 

"Well...I suppose we could start by showing him around Inaba." Teddie suggests, having had just about enough of the heavy-atmosphere and depression clinging to the skins of these teens. It's unnerving, makes his skin crawl in ways most unpleasant. Best get moving, or do /something/ to alleviate this cloud of gloom. "It'll be pretty funny, having someone other than me be lost."

"Yeah, I'll go with you guys. And I guess for the rest of the team...." Yosuke paused before Naoto took over. "Everyone needs to get rest. It's obvious that we all lack in it from our thoughts prior to this revelation. I will be heading home to get that rest as well, and I advise everyone else to do so." Even he was getting rest, and that wasn't a very usual thing for the assiduous detective.

Rise rests her head on the table with distinct /thunk/, groaning into her arms as she folds them about her head. "This is a nightmare." She says, voice barely audible and muffled given her position. Things in this state were not only bleak and dismal but just awkward. How exactly were they expected to act around someone who is someone yet essentially isn't? They really don't teach you in school how to deal with body snatchers. Then again, nothing in their lives was ever clear-cut and normal.

Yukiko nods her head at the suggestion of rest. Little could be done with everyone in top shape, even less could be accomplished in this current state. Right now they were pitiful, sad, and confused; generally a wreck. She's not even functioning on sleep, whatever energy she managed to supply herself with in getting to Junes was all but gone. If she had the option to, she could just fall asleep right there in the food-court. "Chie, you...you need rest too. I think, we all do. Really." 

Teddie springs up a bit too enthusiastically from his sitting position among the somber teens, heading over to where the still quite disoriented Ryoji stood. He hated this concept as much as the rest of them did, but he decides that acting like a territorial demon-creature was vastly inappropriate in this situation. He doubts that the others even know Ryoji is a shadow, just like him. Much more dangerous too, even though the Investigation Team might not categorize him as something portentous.  
"Well~." He drawls, "Everyone is going to have to regroup and get some rest...seeing that this is weird and pretty bad."He pauses, gaze fluttering around the faces of the crestfallen crew. "Where will we go first?" Teddie asks, taking a deep breath in a vain attempt at dissipating the negative atmosphere that welled up within himself.  
"I'm going to /explode/ if I have to stay around everyone like this...it's so sad it hurts. Is it possible to be positive in a time like this?"

"I'll not be here long, so you can find relief in the fact that my stay will be short-lived." Ryoji says, drawing Teddie's attention to him again. "I've no intention of impinging this boy's life anymore than I can help...I promise to do what I can to bring Souji back." His voice pales, a shade lighter in tone as he touches on the fleeting nature of his stay. It really was nice, to be alive again. Even if the pain and sorrow follows him into this new existence, even when there are individuals hauntingly similar to those he once new, it is...undoubtedly a more favorable fate than the nonexistence of death. 

Kanji lets out a sigh, shoulders slumping. This really was the worst, close at least. Souji's not dead but he's /gone/, who knows when he'll be back? What is this Ryoji guy even like? Would he ruin whatever image Souji-senpai had set up for himself in this town? It seemed like /everyone/ in Inaba in some way knew Souji. He was everywhere for everyone all the time, or so it seemed. How would Ryoji cope with that, it must be stressful. Kanji's head spins and he rubs his temple with a finger in distress, was it even possible to coach someone about being someone else? 

Probably not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dang this one was pretty long


	6. Working your way around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke and Teddie show Ryoji around for a bit, followed by an incredibly awkward meeting with Dojima.

Yosuke was having trouble even being in this melancholy atmosphere. It would take them a while, but they would get over it, hopefully. Yosuke still wasn't over it no matter what he told himself, but at least he knew not to show it. Maybe Souji had rubbed off on him a whole lot; his friend usually kept his emotions in out in public and expressed himself more when he was with him alone. Yosuke too started to learn how to conceal those emotions, perhaps just to lessen the pity that others felt for him. Seeing them /judge/ how pitiful he was, how completely hopeless he was, that wasn't at all a good feeling that sat well with him. No, he had to stop that kind of thinking. Anymore of it and he'd see his Shadow pop back up to mock him again, to feed off of his slowly returning ressentiment in his subconscious. What a horrifying thought. 

"Yeah. Just...I think when everyone gets their sleep it'll be fine. I think I was the only one who slept knowing that I found at least some of Souji wandering around in Junes." he said with a low chuckle. The teen could pick up that subtle change in voice; it was rather obvious. What it was, however, he couldn't tell for sure. Was it sadness? Happiness? Hope? Yosuke didn't know, and he didn't care enough to pursue it. 

"Don't worry about me, Hana-chan." Ryoji says softly, offering Yosuke a soft smile before starting to fuss absentmindedly through Souji's hair. "I understand this feeling, you've all effectively lost someone very important and...my presence seems to be the cause." He looks at the Investigation Team askance, breathing in the aura of sorrow that resides in the group. They were a lot like SEES, only smaller and slightly more...unorganized. Good people, no less. Ryoji recalls the fondness the Persona users had for their leader...there's no doubt they'd have reacted the same way when realizing the effect of Minato's choice. It would be akin to this, the pain the agony the denial all in all. He's glad that he wasn't there to witness the fallout, as well as he is relieved to know this Souji is still alive. Just what would these teens do without their leader? What had SEES done? Had they disbanded? He didn't know, it really wasn't his place to wonder when the reason for all this tragedy was his existence. How pitiful. 

This would have been perhaps a bit reminiscent of how Souji had first come to Inaba. Yosuke was his first friend in that small town, and he was happy for it. Of course, it had started that fateful day when he had crashed his bike into the trash bin. Who knew you could make friends by rescuing a kid from a trash can? He was glad he crashed into it, though. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been so close to Souji, maybe not even a friend at all. Yosuke was new too, from the big city. Tokyo with all its lights and hustle bustle couldn't do justice for Inaba, though. This was where all his real friends were, where his life truly began anew.   
For some reason, seeing just that small smile made Yosuke feel better. He started to think back to how Souji acted, those small upward twitches of his lips to break out into a subtle, warm smile to grace his features. That occasional laugh he could elicit out from Souji with a couple of his terrible attempts at jokes, or maybe him just messing something up, that bubble of amused emotion he could extract from Souji at those moments that would just make Yosuke warm inside and-- What the hell was wrong with him? This wasn't his own thinking, was it? Jesus Christ, he was moving towards the deep end of no return very soon, and he didn't like that at all, not one bit. Still, it was odd how he hadn't realized how much he actually /thought/ about Souji now that he wasn't fully there. And perhaps thinking about him wasn't as good as he had initially thought. 

Yosuke just gave a smile in return to the other, having no words on mind at the moment for Ryoji. 

"We're already here, might as well show him around the shopping district." he said with a sigh before composing himself once more, looking up to face Ryoji."Sorry, this must be kinda...awkward for you, what with all these sad, sleep-deprived teens. Don't take it to heart, there's nothing you did wrong in this situation anyways." he said with a slight smile, starting to move away from the others. Perhaps this was their time to recover their strength until then.

Ryoji nods his head curtly, still feeling a pang of unease trickle down his spine as he knows the source of such unplesantries is his very presence.   
"Okay, sooooo, the Shopping District." Teddie pipes up, urging the two to head out and away from the still moping teens. "It's basically where most people in Inaba are. This is a nice town...though I really don't have many places to compare it to, it's the only place I've ever been. Well. I've watched movies though." He starts to ramble, looking more at his feet than his audience. Ryoji's smile grows at the explanation, how interesting to have another shadow trying to fit in with humans. It was a silly endeavor; a monster among men. This one supposedly came about its own existence, whereas he came from a lab. A genuine life but a struggle no less. At least when he was alive, he observed the human lifestyle through Minato, learned about the social transactions from him. A preview, to the strenuous encounters of his brief life in high school. Ryoji assumes that Teddie had no such introduction.

******

Rise watches from between her arms the trio begin to leave, this would be hard getting used to. A sigh escapes her lips. Could she just go home, knowing about this. How could she? Her eyes wander to the tired features of the others. They'd have trouble to.   
"I miss him already." She murmurs, burying her face in her folded arms again. Yukiko nods her head, still cradling Chie in her embrace. "I know but, it won't last long."   
"Or so we hope..." Kanji adds, furrowing his brows and padding over to sit at the space previously occupied by Teddie.

Naoto sighed as he looked over the grim remainder of the team. "At this point, it's only best and healthy to keep our hopes up." He hated having to say that, but what else was there? He couldn't give them a false promise to look forward before it all fell down in the future; they had to just wait for it to play out. "We should all head back and rest while there's still time. At least gather our wits." he suggested, as he too needed the rest for once.

******  
Soon, after Teddie had started to ramble on, Yosuke started to add in. "Yeah, this is like the life of Inaba, especially at Junes back there. I mean, I would know best, I'm the son of the manager there, so I do spend some time working there. The food court is usually where the whole team hangs out and discusses plans." he says with a sigh, not wanting to glance back at them, afraid that he'd get just as dreary if he did. It was best to give them some time to rest and recover from such an emotional smack down anyways. 

"It must be a pretty small town." Ryoji states, eyes scanning the small expanse of buildings that gave way to endless mountains. Deep verdurous hills that bleed into the beryl slops that edged away into the distance. It occurs to him that he's never /seen/ mountains like this. Sure he's seen a fair bit of nature on Port Island, the ocean, the occasional burst of woodlands. But nothing quite like this. Gazing outwards he can see that not so much as a single house dots the hills beyond, this little city was isolated from the rest of the world it seemed. Absolutely amazing. "Well, even if not a lot happens here...it's a beautiful place." Ryoji maunders, breathing in the sweet zephyr of Inaba. Oh, he could fall in love with a place like this. Often, humans forget to appreciate the wonders of nature. These creatures, live in a planet that is beautiful, would be more so if they'd have never tampered with it. Beauty is usually lost in sake of advancement and technology. Some will most likely see this area as boring, but at least in this moment he can find it beautiful. 

To be rather honest, Yosuke wasn't exactly the kind of guy who liked to enjoy the nature. After all, having come from the heart of the crowded, bright-light and business type city of Tokyo, he couldn't find himself staring out into the mountains or the trees of Inaba that often. Maybe if he had some nice music to go along with the scenic view. "I guess so." he comments at the other's statement, putting his hands behind his head, feeling slightly more relaxed. Maybe this small city was better than he ever thought it was. Sure, after that enlightening encounter with his Shadow, he did see the city in a sort of new light, but now, he was starting to see the bigger picture of its quaint aura. 

Teddie knits his brows, watching Ryoji take in the atmosphere. He must really like it, he seems...pleased. Nature didn't exist inside the TV, so even now Teddie finds himself enamored by the outside world. He's pretty lucky to have popped out in a place like Inaba, a nature rich town secluded from the typical cityscapes of areas inhabited by humans. "Yeah." Teddie agrees, grinning, "It's really pretty here...I'm a lucky bear to have landed in such a lovely place."   
Ryoji makes a puzzled expression when Teddie refers to himself as a bear. What exactly was bear like about this shadow? His attention is drawn away before he could inquire about the statement. A book store. There's lots of signs posted around the entrance, advertising the sale of a new series. He skips over there, meandering past Yosuke and Teddie and slipping into the store itself. Why? Because he's curious. It's been quite a while since he's been in one of these. There was a big bookstore out towards the station in Port Island, owned by a sweet old couple, who's names have long since slipped his mind.   
The woman at the front desk waves at him, smiling fondly. He wonders if Souji has been in this store before, clerks don't smile that genuinely at strangers.

As Ryoji started to stray away, Yosuke glanced to where he was heading. The book store. It was somewhere Souji liked to visit from time to time, and Yosuke would often tag along, even if he didn't like to read all too much. But sometimes he needed something else to do while working at Junes, and getting a book or two in didn't hurt. Well, most of the time, when he wasn't tired and when Chie wasn't hurling it at him. That was one reason he didn't get hard covers anymore, even if he did know he'd end up jacking up the book somehow.   
Yosuke heads in, also giving a smile to the woman behind the counter. She was the one usually working the counter anyways when he and Souji decided to pop in to glance around at a few books. There was a faint vellichor in the air, some books having sat on the shelves for who knows how long, gathering dust, making the atmosphere heavy with time. 

Time. How long was Souji going to be gone? How long would it take for them to get him back, or for him to return? Would he even come back? God dammit, stop it, he told his own mind. Stop /thinking/ like this. It was fucking with him more than he wanted to, these internal thoughts, and he was thinking that maybe he was one of the ones who needed more sleep.   
He ran his hand through his hair with a heavy sigh, glancing over to Ryoji. "You take a liking to books or something? Reading's not really my specialty, but Souji does like this place a bit."

"Do I like books?" He echoes, running a finger down the spine of a dusty novel. "Well, yes. I never had much time to read when I was alive...what with the apocalypse and many other troublesome events to be concerned with, but in my spare time before those events, I did take much enjoyment in reading." He replies, pulling said book from the shelf, observing the cover and then sliding it back into place. "I like old books, boring ones..." His voice trails off and he wanders down a different aisle, until finding what he was searching for.   
"In English too..." He hums, quickly taking the novel in hand and filtering through the yellowed pages. It reeked of age, worn and dusty as if it were some heirloom. "Paradise Lost" He reads, smiling fondly at the pages. "It's an epic, twelve actually...composed into one book. It's about Lucifer, and his battle with God and later decent into Hell...it reads all the way up to the creation of man, even dwells on some common religious speculation as to the morality of the divine creator." Ryoji clears his throat, realizing that he sounds a bit like an old man speaking of such book and filters his gaze about the room, finding himself to be quite embarrassed in his literary favorite. How fitting of death to love books about the devil.

He had heard of that name before, Paradise Lost. It was a book that the teacher probably had mentioned at one point, but he fact had slipped his memory, most likely. Still, even with the other's harmless description, Yosuke really had to wonder the extent of his existence and malice, if what Teddie had said was true. That was of the past, however, and now, they had to focus on the present and the future. "I'm not a big fan of books like that, or any kind, to be honest. But I'll be alright if you give me a comic book or manga or something." he said with a laugh, slipping his hands in his pockets, adjusting his headphones at his neck slightly with a subtle lift of his shoulder to put them back into place. 

The day had gone on, and soon, the two were walking Ryoji to Dojima's. This was where things got complicated. He couldn't just /tell/ the policeman that his nephew had gotten kicked out of his own body and now there was a new soul stuck in it, that was, first of all, crazy, and second of all, probably all bullshit in Dojima's ears. And so they would have to keep very quiet about that. "Alright, so you're gonna have to stay with Souji's uncle, and... Please try not to mess anything up. If he suspects something, he's probably gonna blame /me/ for fucking his nephew up in the head, or something like that." Yosuke really did have a lot to worry about.

Ryoji finds himself dwelling on the less pressing matters of his current situation for most of the day. Learning the lay of the land, was so much fun. He recalls the times, the earliest parts of his human existence, when he aimlessly wandered the expanse of Port Island. It was beautiful, confusing, and...lonely. Now, he had people who cared and guided him around like a sheep through the snow. He genuinely enjoyed being showed around, made him feel quite special in some funny little way. Ryoji just couldn't help but smile, feeling little slivers of the love these humans have for this Souji boy slip into himself through the hours.   
But as the day comes to a close, matters grow serious again. He was indeed encroaching on someone else's life. He must be a lot different, personality wise than Souji, for Yosuke seemed quite concerned for his performance in meeting this family member. Teddie seems tense as well, and over the time he's spent in the company of this shadow, Ryoji's gathered that Teddie tries to keep an unwavering cheerfulness about him. How troubling. Ryoji crosses his arms, and hums softly in thought.   
"Well, I don't know much about the personality traits of the one I'm supposed to be impersonating...would you mind giving me a brief summary? If at all possible? I know that humans can be...quite complicated in their emotional structures." He coos, pacing right alongside the two on the road to the Dojima's residence. Teddie snickers quietly to himself, imagining in his head how someone might pretend to be Souji.

Of course, Yosuke didn't expect that this would be easy for Ryoji to pull off; it wouldn't have been easy for anyone to pull this off, in reality. But, he could certainly try so that Dojima didn't get /as/ suspicious. He just hoped that there wouldn't be any questioning going on. After all, it would probably be difficult for Ryoji to answer, and then there would just be more resulting trouble. Either way, this situation was a wreck, and there was no way to make it much better, but he could at least make it mildly better (whatever that meant). "Uh... It's...hard to explain. But just...don't smile too often, and don't talk too much." He never had to put Souji's personality into words, so this was rather awkward, in a sense, mostly for just Yosuke.   
They continued to near the resident until they were out front, Yosuke letting out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "He has a little cousin named Nanako, and he's sort of like a big brother for her, so I suppose that could be something to keep in mind." he added on, now starting to get a bit anxious.

Teddie sways behind the two, "Ah~!" He squeaks, leaning up on his tip-toes, "Nanako-chan, she's the best! You'll love her, even the most vile and evil of creatures like you...will love her! She's so sweet and--" His speech boils down into unintelligible coos as he murmurs about the wonder of the little girl. Ryoji knits his brows and nods his head slowly, playing out the next span of events in his mind. Something /stirs/ in his chest. Almost like an insect rattling about in a jar. Nanako. She must be very important to this Souji person, enough to rouse some small remnant of his psyche within himself again. It almost hurts, making Ryoji suck in a shaky breath, reaching for the doorknob in a spurt of boldness and slipping inside.

Don't smile too much, or talk to much. Hm. 'It's hard to be expressive.' Ryoji finds a tiny voice in his head producing for him, was this the voice of the boy lost in his own soul? He's left to wonder as he peers around the home curiously. It was a cozy place, he senses the homeliness before being hit with a wave of anxious nausea. /Someone/ was gazing at him quite intensely.

"Well, look who decided to come home." The voice is stern from across the room and Ryoji finds himself almost shivering. So this must be Souji's uncle, as well as the source of such a scrutinizing stare. In the small living space two figures dwell. Ryoji's eyes settle on them and he finds his attention drawn to the almost /sparkling/ gaze of a young girl. This, must be Nanako.   
"Big bro." She murmurs, batting her eyelashes and sitting up from her space in front of the TV, with a skip in her step she makes her way over to the trio, wrapping her small limbs around him. "Welcome home." She adds. He can't help but smile just a /little/ at her unbridled joy, oh the wonder of human youth, their cheer and spirit is marvelous. "I've only been gone a day, just studying." He says to her and she nods, gripping him still. Her ochre eyes narrow at Yosuke, assuming that he is the source of Souji's disappearance. She then looks to Teddie, breathing in sharply, "TEDDIE!" She wails and the blonde beams in response. She peels away from him and makes quick work of pouncing on Teddie, to whom accepts her joy in stride. He has to make effort not to grin at the sheer cuteness of the two that have dissolved into giggles in the floor.

 

Nanako made things feel maybe a bit better, what with just her calming, cute eyes. No wonder Souji acted like such a good big brother; anyone would have for a kid like Nanako. However, just seeing her didn't help alleviate the stare frozen on him and Ryoji from the glaring eyes of Dojima. There was a fleeting break of the tense atmosphere when Nanako came to happily greet Teddie before it quickly vanished, at least to Yosuke, anyways. 

"Just studying." Souji's uncle repeats, working over the statement in mind, in his speech as if contemplating the honesty of it. Ryoji nods his head, firm in his resolve. He's got no other option aside from sticking to the story Yosuke had fabricated in that voicemail. It wasn't too bad, but this man is a cop apparently. Ryoji finds himself feeling rather stressed, how on earth does this Souji boy live with a man like this? Was he concerned about Souji...or suspicious of him? 

Dojima's gaze shifts to Yosuke, lifting a brow in question at him. That boy was trouble, has always been around when /strange/ events occur. Somehow his nephew was also always present with him in those times, if anything was going on...they'd be in it together. Hm. At least he doesn't have to worry about that Teddie character, he didn't seem to have enough wits about him to be of any threat or concern. At least Nanako enjoys his presence, if only he wasn't so /loud/.

Yosuke, once stepping inside the household, could feel the atmosphere change as he felt the policeman's gaze fall upon them both. The teen was always nervous around him, considering that everything he did was always /wrong/ somehow, and that he was always under the observant gaze of his best friend's uncle. He knew Dojima was always suspicious of him; Yosuke didn't blame the guy, though. If he was an uncle worried for his nephew, he'd probably be cautious around a teen like himself too, he understood somewhat. Still, it wasn't at all a nice feeling.

The teen nodded in agreement to Ryoji's statement, finding it treacherous to add on anything else to the story. However, when the police man starts to look over them both as if suspicious figures, he had to say something in defense. "Sorry sir, i-it got late, and I thought it would be dangerous to head out that late. It won't happen again!" he said with a slight bow of his head in apology, swallowing dryly in nervousness.

Now, how many times had these two been back and the response is "it won't happen again." Hanamura has this key phrase down pat, even as in almost all Souji's excursions with this boy, they come back late. Nothing, in all honesty has happened too terribly when they did return at odd times. All in exception to the first few weeks that Souji had been in Inaba, when he was hospitalized from some "attack", they'd been running late that day...   
Dojima grunts, cutting his eyes away from the two teens and releasing a sigh. This would be a fight, a questioning, that wouldn't result in any real answers. His nephew has quite the gift of /avoiding/ topics, that or Nanako butting in at some point informing them not to fight. Tonight, he'll let this slide. They don't seem too out of place, something odd, some aura is off...but he couldn't quite place it.

If Yosuke didn't have that saying down already then he didn't know where he was, in hell or not. It was a common phrase he'd use with Souji's uncle, even if it DID happen again on several occasions, just different situations, is all. He'd just have to make sure that specific situation didn't happen again; he was a sly devil with these kinds of things, he could be a smart ass if he wanted to, even if his academic grades proved him to be not as smart as anyone would have wanted. Served him right for staying up all the time doing homework. Regardless, that was another story saved for another time. 

"Alright. Make sure to time these events better next time." He reprimands, Nanako humming cheerfully from the place in which she was giggling hysterically with Teddie. No fights, all is well or so it seems.  
Ryoji shoots Yosuke a look askance, a smile, surprisingly-Souji-like, curls at his lips in a subtle manner. Crisis averted.

"Y-Yes, sir! I'll make sure to!" Yosuke said with a stutter, bowing his head in apology to the intimidating other, lifting his head and glancing over to Ryoji, who gives him a smile that makes him crack on the inside. God, /that/ smile. The teen had to cough a bit and avert his gaze so he wouldn't just stand there /staring/ at his face, that small upward quirk of his lips and-- he was doing it again, god dammit. Stop it, this was horrendously /gay/ and Yosuke knew it. Maybe his mind was just fucking with him, just teasing him. Jesus, if his mind started to tease him about his sexuality along with everyone else then there was certainly a problem. Though, a problem to be delved into some time later when Dojima wasn't staring them down.   
The teen put his hand on Ryoji's shoulder, giving his usual grin. "Well, I'm gonna be heading home now, Partner. That is, if you don't need anything else?" Partner. He had to call him that for the sake of not looking suspicious in front of Dojima or Nanako. Even though it felt odd, he had to flow with it, calling this guy Partner around people who knew of their strong friendship.

Ryoji shakes his head, "See you later, Yosuke." He says dismissively to the other and inherently the shadow as well. Teddie makes a squeaky sound of disappointment at having to leave, promising the little girl that he'd come back to play soon. Nanako, being satisfied by that statement waved the two off as they exited the home.

When he was dismissed, he had to grab Teddie just a bit to urge him out as well, shooting a sweet smile back to Nanako and giving a last idiotic grin to Ryoji before heading out the door with Teddie. Once outside, the door to the Dojima residence shut to separate him from Souji's body, the teen let out a sigh. Souji's body.   
Yosuke should have felt maybe slightly guilty to refer to him as "Souji's body" instead of Ryoji; but which was more important? His best friend's body or a soul he hadn't known until that day? That was a bit beastly, but it wasn't his fault, there were just some things that he instinctively prioritized, and whatever part of Souji that was still there was one of the top things on that mental list. 

"I hope he does fine. We'll just have to discover whether or not Dojima rips him apart tomorrow." Yosuke said to Teddie as he crossed his arms with a faint chuckle. The two, however, found themselves walking back to Junes. The whole group had left by then- thank God for that, they needed their rest-, Yosuke getting on his bike, letting Teddie sit at the back once more as he biked home.


	7. Chapter 7

Once at home, it was mostly silent, his father still at Junes finishing up work. The house was empty, leaving it now to the two of them. Still, Yosuke still didn't find it in himself to throw a mini party for himself and Teddie like he said someday he would, instead just plopping down on his bed and finding himself too heavy to /move/. His mind drifted to skim the surface of unconsciousness and heavy sleep before his mind woke him up once more, dragging him back out to the world of the awake. Clothes. Right. He couldn't sleep in these. The teen trudged to the closet, opening the other side of it so that he wouldn't have to catch a glimpse of Teddie and whatever he chose to do in his closet. He pulled out a pair of clothes fit for sleeping and closed the closet with a swift slide, practically throwing off his clothes, letting them pile at the foot of his bed; he'd clean it up later when he was doing the laundry. Slipping on his loose, faded cream long-sleeve and plaid pajama pants, he went back to his bed to reintroduce himself to the beautiful lady named Sleep. Of course, he never did meet the lady once he was back on his bed, figuratively speaking, obviously. The teen laid there staring up at the ceiling, contemplating. It wasn't until then that he realized how much he /missed/ Souji. It hadn't even been a full day yet, but he missed him so much. He wanted to text his friend, telling him how maybe Teddie did something really weird again, or how he needed to stop procrastinating, or simply to just say something stupid like he always did. He didn't notice how valued just those little talks with best friend were, not even realizing that just the sheer absence of his partner's presence was harrowing enough.

Though, he refused to bawl, crying himself to sleep wasn't the plan. They would find Souji, they would get him back to his body for sure. Now stop worrying, you big idiot. His own self-chiding did to help him slightly. However, keeping himself up thinking about these things was pointless, irrational. Might as well just head to sleep to get that nice deserved shut-eye. 

****

The Dojima residency was a rather cozy home.  
Ryoji had come to this conclusion some time around midnight. He'd only spent a short while longer with the family before they headed off to bed, but from what he gathered, they're both good people. This Souji person, is a lucky fellow to have such amiable humans in his midst. 

Ryoji wandered aimlessly through the boy's room, poking around the various items that made up his living space. Nothing about it spoke much about Souji as a person, only the people he was associated with. He could quickly gather that, Souji was a very sentimental person.Transient trinkets of various size lingered within boxes long since touched, packed away in the closet. Upon further investigation Ryoji found items that /had/ to be from middle school, or earlier. Within that same closet, he finds that this teen as an extremely limited color pallet. Black, white, grey. The end. Oh dear, this would not do at all. Ryoji narrows his eyes, digging deeper for some semblance of life and color in beneath the mountain of muted hues only to come up empty handed. He did however, find some scarves, more like mufflers but oh well. With a sigh of defeat he loops the garment around his neck, feeling leagues more comfortable now that he had something resembling his usual attire.  
The blue checkered carpet felt nice beneath his feet as he shuffled about in observance of this living space, Ryoji twirled about on his heel and watched the walls blur together with his circular motion. This room was much different than the rooms he'd come to know at the dormitory in Port Island, smaller definitely, but the aura too. It was a home, not just a room. This section was a piece of a house, with a family...something most of the children in SEES lacked. Fortunate for Souji to have such a place to live, although, something about the placement of possessions in this room leads Ryoji to believe it's not a permanent home.  
Minuets turn to hours that he spends aimlessly rooting through Souji's room. Even now he finds himself in a state of listlessness as he stares blankly at a shelf containing various figurines. Midnight crawled past like a salamander up a river's slope, winding and slow. One am turns to two and he's still left thinking. Partner. Why had Yosuke referred to him as 'partner'? Obviously it was a common name for Souji, since the brunette was trying to pass things of as normal. But what did it mean? It shows a relationship between humans, yes? Ryoji fishes through the confines of his mind to the fair few conversations of this liking he had with Minato. He'd explained a few ideals to human relations. There's a relationship partner, the kind of person you 'date'. Ryoji had asked many girls at Gekkokan out on dates (most of which had refused) but actively 'dating' someone is much different. He had dated Minato and they'd ventured out only a couple times...but, it was something intimate. Ryoji wonders if Souji and Yosuke are partners in that fashion. He doesn't know of many other kinds of partnerships really, and he had been very eager to kiss him when not knowing Souji was gone from his own body. 

It quickly dawns on him that he's in the wrong place. Relationship partners sleep together, this he had been informed of by Minato. Many many nights Ryoji snuck out from his own living spaces, to climb up the fire-escape to Minato's room in the dorm. It became a normal occurrence in the time they were dating. Perhaps in this relationship it is Souji who travels out to Yosuke's home to sleep together, yes, that's it. And it is with that thought that he does indeed venture out, from pure memory alone, all the way to Yosuke Hanamura's home. Climbing up the side of the house, as quietly as he can, hissing softly as he works the window open and slips inside.

It had been hours after his sleep when he heard noises of his window sliding open, and then just the sheer presence of something in his room. The teen groaned out of exasperation, bringing a hand out from under the blanket for the sole purpose of slapping it over his face. Half asleep, he managed to speak out a groggy "Fuck, Teddie, stop screwing around and get to sleep...." he grumbled out, voice trailing off towards the end of complaint. However, soon he willed himself to bring his hand off of his face to prop himself up against his elbow, squinting in the darkness to look at the figure in his room. Provided with lighting from the moonlight filtering through the window, his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes scanned over the figure before they widened, the teen scrambling backwards against the wall at the side of his bed, sitting up in bed and pulling the blanket up to his chest, a reflex made for those times when he chose not to wear pants to sleep. "W-What the hell are you /doing/ here?!" he yelled in a hushed whisper out of pure astonishment and confusion. "You're supposed to be sleeping at Souji's house, why're you /here/? Oh man, Souji's uncle's gonna kill me if he finds out!" he said with a hiss of a whisper.

Ryoji soaks in the growing atmosphere, gathering that perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea to show up at such an unusual time. Humans and their set-sleep schedules. "Because, something rather important came to me! I realized something." He responds in the same hushed tone. He lowers himself to nearly a crouch, tip-toeing cautiously across the room to squat beside the bed. "Are you and I dating? Well, Souji and you?" He asks, tilting his head in a manner akin to that of a bird. His eyes gleam an eerie azure, shimmering like crystalline orbs in the dim light of Yosuke's room. Outwardly he seems rather convinced of his conclusion for he's damn convinced on the inside to. There wasn't much else for him to go on, aside from the words and explanations of a boy long past.

The strange stirring in his chest returns as soon as the odd question leaves his mouth, almost like a slow burn now. He wonders, briefly, if Souji can hear him.

What could have been so damn important that it couldn't wait for the next morning? Ryoji literally came in through his window at what, two in the morning? Three in the morning? He was too lazy (as well as concerned with exactly why Ryoji felt compelled to climb into his room) to check his clock, but he knew it definitely was pretty late, or rather, pretty early. When the other squats down at his bedside, Yosuke gave a dubious look, eyebrows furrowed. However, when the question escaped the lips of the foreign soul, Yosuke had to take a moment to process what he had just heard. Did he even /hear/ that right? The teen choked on his own saliva out of sheer surprise, perhaps choosing to swallow at the wrong time. He coughed into his arm a couple of times before clearing his throat, having to remind himself to stay quiet once more before he could start accidentally raising his voice to a dangerous degree.

"You referred to me, him, as 'partner'. Does that mean you're his relationship partner? It makes since in regards to human relations." Ryoji teeters back and forth on his heels, a silly grin plastered to his face as he marvels at his own cognizance. "When we first met, back at Junes when you thought I was Souji...you kissed me--him! Easily, as if it were something you've wanted to do or have already done. Even though you were tired, I could distinguish /some/ of your feelings...just from body language. Which leads me to believe you're dating Souji Seta!" Ryoji's eyes wander over the expanse of Yosuke's bed, acute gaze eventually falling on his face. His grin fades slightly, transitioning from the goofy to something borderline intimate. It's odd, bending someone else's face to an expression not of themselves.  
"Relationship partners...sleep together, or so I was told. Therefore, acting in Souji's stead. I am here for you, to save you from the algid clutches of loneliness." He murmurs, curling his lips into yet another one of those signature Souji smiles, feeling the slow burn rise into a near scalding heat in his chest. If only he could discern the meaning behind these sensations.  
Maybe Souji was encouraging him from the cryptic depths of his own soul? Ryoji could only wonder.

"W-What?! Hell no!" he retorted back in his hushed voice. "Where did you get /that/ from?!" He looked into the unfamiliar gleaming eyes for a brief moment before shifting his ochre gaze elsewhere out of pure awkwardness. Oh god, was it getting hot? Perhaps in the darkness of the dimly lit room it would have been harder to spot his cheeks dust over a crimson hue. This was embarrassing.

He was bringing up /that/? His usual "partner" acknowledgement? This guy got it all wrong. So completely wrong. And then the /kissing/, Jesus Christ. He didn't want to be reminded of that any time soon, especially at an awkward time like this. "Dude, no! I was /tired/, okay? Maybe I wasn't too well up in the head at the time, because when you see your best friend after you think he's dead, you'd do something weird like that too. And we're not THOSE kind of partners, alright? We're equals, period. Best friends, fighting partners, whatever you want to call it! But a relationship partner /isn't/ one of them!" Oh dear lord, was he planning to /sleep/ with him? Was that why he came? This was all just one very large and awkward misunderstanding. Yosuke's face was burning by then, his eyes not able to keep a steady, stable gaze on anything really. And then that smile, that smile so similar to Souji's; that was definitely something he /couldn't/ take his eyes off of. After that brief moment of confused staring, however, the teen shook off the feeling, running a hand through his hair, feeling like a nervous wreck. 

"No, we're NOT relationship partners, and that's final! I'm n-not... I-I'm straight! I like girls, WOMEN." he said as he jutted a thumb at his chest to his own direction in self-acknowledgement. "You're not sleeping with me, Ryoji. You better get back to Dojima's before the morning, otherwise he's gonna find me explaining the situation AGAIN. He already hates my guts, I can tell. This is just gonna make it ten times worse."

With a tilt of his head and a pout, he contemplates whether or not this boy is lying or simply avoiding the truth. He narrows his eyes in his sideways gaze, as if searching in the darkness for something unseen. Vulturine analysis of Yosuke's character, for the desired answer in which Ryoji has perceived as the truth. "Well~! Whether or not you accept or acknowledge it...I am lead to believe you've at least got /feelings/ for him." He coos, drawing out the word 'feelings'. At that, as if on some bizarre sort of cue, the closet door slides open with a barely audible 'clack'. Teddie slinks out from his nest of sorts in the uppermost section, hanging over the edge of a storage shelf like a rag-doll and observing the two in the darkness with sleep laden curiosity. "Mhh...No one likes Sensei...more than Yosuke." He murmurs, a yawn splitting his speech. Ryoji cuts his eyes towards the blonde, nodding his head in agreement. "See, even he agrees and he's barely been part of this conversation." He states matter-of-factly. 

Teddie slides off of the shelf with another clunk and shuffle, wheezing as he flops out into the floor of the bedroom. Once there he doesn't even move, it's too early to even attempt coherent thought. It took him long enough to get accustomed to the human sleep-schedule, in times like these it proves as a hindrance. He groans, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

To be honest, Yosuke was more confused than naught, even if he refused to admit it even to himself. Perhaps he was avoiding the truth, or perhaps he was just plain out lying. But in his own consciousness, he was telling the greatest truth there was, no doubt. The teen noticed the narrowing of the other's bright eyes and he sighed. Why was this questioning even going on? "/F-Feelings/?!" he repeated incredulously. He was close to coming to a good rebuttal (aka denial) when he heard the closet door open, the wooden clack sounding out against the other side as the door slid smoothly open to reveal a very groggy Teddie. 

"You little asshole, I swear I'll get you for that." he hissed to the blonde in his angrily hushed tone. Shifting back to Ryoji, explaining himself seemed to be a bit necessary. "He's my best friend, alright? I have a right to "like" him more than anyone else, I admit. But not in THAT kind of way!" he said, soon overtaken with a yawn. Fuck, it was still too /early/ for this kind of shit. His brain was screaming at him for sleep, and the teen plopped back down onto his bed from his sitting-up position, head landing back down onto his pillow with a soft 'thump'. "I'm too tired for this kind of stuff... Go sleep with Teddie or something..." he found himself mumbling, voice trailing off as he drifted back and forth from the shallow realms of sleep, dabbling occasionally into a deeper sense of rest.

Ryoji watches with a frown as his point of conversation dissolves into him being simply dismissed. Perhaps this was an inappropriate time to be having one such argument, if it could even be considered an argument at that point. "Very well then, but I'll keep digging until I prove it, I'm almost never wrong about these things." He could get away saying such things, they knew very little about him aside from his status as Nyx. Therefore, they had very little insight as to his social awkwardness. Ryoji gives himself partial credit for inquiring on one such topic, he had a /feeling/ about it that influenced his words. Hopefully, he wasn't wrong. Watching for only a fair moment more as Yosuke settles back into sleep, he slinks over to the place in the floor wherein the other shadow was splayed out. "Mhh..." Teddie warbles unintelligibly at the other, blinking up with hazy azure eyes at Ryoji as he looms over him.  
"You're comment was most helpful, thank you." He whispers to him, Teddie grumbles out what could hardly be considered a response before fading entirely back into the realm of sleep. Ryoji watches this one too before straightening himself and making an exit through the window once again. Not much point in hovering about a room of sleeping individuals. He'd never quite grown accustomed to sleep, having the natural inclination to be roused at the ripe midnight hour, the Dark Hour as he fondly recalls. It was a time, the only time in the realm of humanity (despite it's supernatural tendencies) wherein he felt truly safe. Shadows such as himself thrived in such conditions and his favorite youths scaled the halls of Tartarus at those hours, a pleasant place for an entity such as himself.

***  
He wanders the streets of Inaba listlessly until the hours wane towards morning, having traveled through most of the unexplored city sections, even finding a strange horde of felines. They must know Souji, for each one came to the call of his voice with a familiarity in their strides. Ryoji makes it back into the Dojima house before a single soul begins to stir, shuffling up the stairs once again into the bedroom he had inhabited hours previous. Time to observe the uniform again, no, time to spice up this dull child's wardrobe. Surely he could scrounge up /something/ pleasing from within the clutter of his closet. For someone with such an organized living space, the closet was akin to Pandora's Box. He peels away into the cryptic clothing nightmare, browsing every wear until he finds an assortment of things that please him (almost.) Scarves, nice scarves. Souji has only one colored scarf and it was green, why couldn't it be yellow. Yellow was such a lively color, the color of daisies and tulips. Ugh, what a boring kid Souji must be. He winds the scarf around his neck, fitting it over his shoulders as to where the sides spill out behind him. There's a medical mask, a mouth guard of sorts and he fastens it to his face, just for aesthetic purposes. There's some shades in there, dusty from the lack of use and he spends quite a while cleaning the various grime from off the lenses. After a while more of rearranging his outfit, he stands before the mirror and examines his temporary look. Oh dear god, he looked very...what was the word, weird? Maybe just a little bit queer. He narrows his eyes through the shades, hollowing his cheeks to blow up the ugly bangs that frame the tops of his lenses. With much searching, he locates some bobby pins, most likely from the little girl accompanying this house. He pins back the silver fringe, grinning in light of his achievement, what teenager wants a fucking /bowl-cut/?

The little girl, Nanako gives him the most incredulous gaze he's ever received when he emerges from his room. The glare only worsening when he asks her very awkwardly for directions to the high-school, for a "lost friend". She complies and he thanks her before heading out to attend the school day. Just how long has it been since he actively attended school? Ryoji recalls having abandoned his studies after realizing his humanity was a farce set up by his own subconscious efforts to fill in the gaps of his memories. It would be nice, nostalgic to return to one such atmosphere. He enters the building, scanning the area for a familiar face and waving cheerfully at those who stare at him awkwardly. Today was going to be great.

***  
After he had fallen back into his realm of slumber, the voices and noises in the background were but a murmured blur in his ears. Sleep came as easy as it soon went when morning came, the teen finding himself with a usual groan when he was met with his blaring alarm. Searching blindly with his palm for a moment, he finally located his alarm clock, slamming his hand down upon the snooze button, movements groggy. He sat up in bed with a yawn, stretching his arms up and soon bringing them to rub at his eyes. He reluctantly slipped out of bed, the warmth from under his blanket unfortunately diminishing. Running his fingers through his messy hair, he gave a knock at the closet door for his shadow friend, imagining how shitty it must have been for him to wake up too. "Get your ass up, Teddie, we gotta go.." he said, words slurred through an audible mumble.  
Of course, after realizing the time, he rushed himself (like he always did), coming out from the bathroom in two minutes flat, changing into his uniform and hanging his headphones around his neck; he looked just as normal as every school day. Buttoning up his uniform jacket as he went, he slung his bag over his shoulder, heading outside with the bear as he completed most of the daily ritual. Now to actually /get/ to school. 

As he rode his always rickety bike to school- with Teddie on board in the back with his near weightlessness- he remembered that he wouldn't be seeing Souji in the morning. No, it was Ryoji, it wasn't Souji at all. The mere thought brought his morning spirits down even more so than they usual were. He could only hope that Ryoji wouldn't change the reputation Souji had built up at school. 

However, perhaps that hope was in vain. Yosuke ran into the building, glancing at the clock with a rush of relief, as there had been time to spare. As usual, he would have been running up to Souji, or at least now, Ryoji, in the mornings at the time, but he hadn't even /recognized/ him from the back, Yosuke giving a choked cough as he went up to the other in an inward (and near outward) panic. "Dude, what the hell are you wearing?!" he hissed softly to the other in a startled and rather angry confusion. He didn't even /know/ Souji owned clothes like that, and he had been in his room a countless number of occasions. "This is /embarrassing/, you're making Souji AND me look bad!" he said with another hushed hiss as they walked through the halls. Fuck, this was pretty bad. It was like a fashion sense at the level of Teddie's at this point.

Teddie bursts into a fit of giggles from across the hall, giving the absolutely disastrous attire and it's wearer one final glance before carrying on downstairs. People often criticize the items of clothing he deems pleasing to the eye, finding his sense of style to be an absolute abomination. At least, he didn't dress like that.

Ryoji jerks in surprise at the familiar voice, shivering slightly in light of being startled. "Oh! Hana-chan, Good morning." Ryoji flashes the brunette a cheeky grin, which soon fades as the teen questions his choice in clothes. "This?" He gestures to himself, "Well, upon further examination of Souji's closet, I found that he's very boring! I decided to spice things up a bit, and for the record, I think I look pretty cute." Ryoji stands his ground, defending his choices with a defiant hand upon his hips, one could probably characterize this as the shadow trying to be sassy. Sassy really wasn't something akin to Souji Seta's expression set, which leads to Ryoji looking (if even possible) more ridiculous than he already does. "How exactly is this embarrassing? I made due with what I could find." 

Yukiko starts her day as she usually would, as if nothing had truly changed in the scheme of reality. It was simpler, to pretend instead of dwell upon matters outside of their control. She, like most of the others unfortunately, spent the weekend doing just that. Dwelling. Quite frankly, Yukiko Amagi was sick and tired of being sick and tired. She gathered up her school supplies and headed out to school, staying her worries and troubles as best she could on the way there. Just take it one day at a time, she tells herself, nodding her head in affirmation of her own thoughts. One day at a time. She briskly enters the building, sweeping past the lingering students in the hall before making it to the second floor. There, she sees something so unusual she stops dead in her tracks. Souji--no, Ryoji was speaking with Yosuke but, that wasn't the issue. What Ryoji was wearing was the main event. She creeps closer in shock, observing the absolutely bizarre attire of his. A...medical mask and a bright green scarf with shades and...his bangs pinned back. she didn't even know Souji owned such a colorful item. He always dressed in such mute colors, very reserved in his dress. This was just, so /silly./  
Yukiko finds a giggle bubble into her throat, pointing at Ryoji with nearly teary eyes as she tries to hold back the wave of laughter. He directs his gaze to her from beneath the shades, tilting his head curiously as she snickers. "What's the matter?" He asks, shamefully having forgotten this girl's name. She shakes her head before a snort tears through her throat and a loud fit of laughter erupts from her chest. Doubling over she attempts to speak, "Sou--Ryoji...oh my god...hahah, you look so..."another wave of laughter breaks her words, "You look so stupid! Hahaha!"

Upon hearing the other call his best friend boring, Yosuke crossed his arms and scowled slightly, eyebrows furrowing in obvious malcontent. "Souji isn't /boring/, he looks just fine with his regular clothes." Actually, he looked much better in his regular clothes than...whatever Ryoji had chose to wear. He always thought that his partner had a better sense of style than he had himself anyways. This was just so wrong on so many levels. 

"Well, sorry to inform you but it's far from cute. He looked much better with the regular clothes he always wore! This is just....weird." he said with a slightly distraught expression. Didn't Souji just have all his clothes neatly hung in his closet? How did Ryoji ever think it was a good idea to "make do" with clothes like that? It was almost weird to try and imagine how Ryoji looked with his own body, not Souji's. There was going to be A LOT of recovery to work on with Souji's reputation when he came back. God damnit.  
"I can't believe you actually thought it was a good idea to come to school dressed like that! People are gonna think weird things about Souji now!" he said in a quiet hiss to the other, frowning. When he heard the laughter nearby, he quickly located Yukiko near them, and he let out an exasperated sigh. This was an obvious affect that the clothes would have had, he supposed. He ran his hand through his hair with a slight sideways glance to Ryoji. "Well, see, someone agrees. I'm not the only one who thinks this." Then again, Yukiko was prone to such blunt words, so perhaps it was just a spur of the moment sort of thing. No matter, it helped to prove his point.

Chie, fatigued from the day before, trudged to school. It was like an emotional dollar coaster, except that it was dropping so much that it was underground. How could this even happen? Out of all things, Souji's soul just /had/ to get kicked out of his body somehow and replaced with someone totally different. She could only hope that he would return; she would be optimistic, no doubt, especially when no one wanted Souji to just be /gone/ like that.  
Once she had gotten into the halls, however, she heard laughing- Yukiko's laughing to be exact. Quickly, she went over to her friend and saw Souji- no, Ryoji- in horrendous clothes. What the hell? Well, at least this lightened the mood a bit. She laughed, prodding at Yosuke's arm. "You help him dress this morning or what?" Yosuke shook his head with a sort of disaapointment. "I wish I did. That way he wouldn't look like this wreck."

"Alright, alright. You guys are cold." Ryoji whines, feigning a sense of deep insult. "I tried, it's hard being stuck in somebody's body! We've got radically different senses of dress." The shadow continues with a pout, folding his arms and burying his face in his muffler. After a moment more, soaking in the poorly stifled snickers of Yukiko and the rest he starts again, "Besides, there's hardly any sizable reputation one teenage boy can withhold, so what if people care? I won't be here long nor will I be uprooting the apparently fragile social structure of this place." 

Yukiko clears her throat into her fist, wheezing still as she comes down from the fit of laughter. "Well, I'm sure that in the time you're here...if you dress so, so /uniquely/ then something in the social order of Yasogami will be amiss." Ryoji responds with a roll of his eyes beneath the shades before he removes them, placing them in his pocket. "Could someone please direct me to the classroom I'm supposed to be in? I'm pretty lost." he then says, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible. "2-2, right down the hall." Yukiko says with a lingering humor in her smile, Ryoji nods his head and quickly makes his way there and away from the cluster of teens.  
It was pretty rough, fitting into a school setting again. He had somehow managed to seamlessly integrate himself into Gekkokan High during his time as a human, it seemed pretty easy at the time. Many people liked him, lots of girls would fawn over him from a distance. It was...strange, but strangely pleasant. Ryoji works over these thoughts as he slides into his seat in class 2-2, only a brief scanning of the room before he was able to locate his chair. Boy, more and more people were shooting him strange looks, just how beloved was this Souji Seta?

 

Yosuke sighed, shaking his head. "It probably wouldn't matter whose body you're in, you'll still probably look just as weird." he said with a knotting of his eyebrows- an expression he made often when something displeased or confused him. Anyone who knew him knew the expression well, Chie laughing even more when she saw Yosuke's familiar expression. That statement he made almost made Yosuke cringe. Souji had spent so much energy trying to build up a reputation at school, he would know that the best. After all, he was probably the only one who talked to Souji day in and day out, got to know him best without that personality he put up constantly at school. Now it would be ruined, Souji would come back to see his reputation in shambles because of this. 

Yosuke walked with him to class, occasionally shooting a glance over to him. Looking at Souji dressed this /ridiculously/ in public was definitely cringe-worthy, but he had to remember, he had to keep telling his own mind that this /wasn't/ his beloved partner. How painful, to temporarily rewire his brain to accommodate for this absence. No, he had to stop thinking about that; Souji would be back in no time, right? They just had to figure out how to bring him back, that was all.... Naoto was smart, the whole team would work together to solve this out, he just knew it. Even if he wasn't the biggest optimist, this wasn't some situation he could just ruin everyone in by complaining and whining. Everyone missed Souji, he knew that. Making it worse wasn't the best temporary situation.  
Sitting down in his seat as well, he sighed, adjusting the headphones around his neck as he shot a sidelong glance at Ryoji. "Dude, people are staring, you're oddly /bright/." he said quietly to the other, almost hissing it. Says the boy with the orange hair, bright shoes, and headphones to match. Still, that was a usual look to Yosuke. Whatever Ryoji was going for was never going to work for Souji's body.

"It just needs some time to perfect, this kid has nothing in his closet but dust-bunnies and ugly-ass cat sweaters." Ryoji whispers back without a so much as a single glance backwards to Yosuke. The classes hiss by like a train along a track, slow and meticulous but eventually reaching it's end destination by the evening. Ryoji finds himself sitting backwards in his chair, narrowing his gaze to Yosuke, "Hana-chan, is there anything exclusively interesting that this Souji boy does at the ends of his days? Seeing that everyone is already in a fuss over something as pointless as clothes, I'm wondering if there's anything else I might potentially disrupt..." His voice trails off and he observes as the girl named Yukiko meanders over to them, although he quickly redirects his focus. "You are all persona users...but, are there shadows aside from that /one/ here? Where? Obviously the Dark Hour isn't present in this place..." He doubts that these few would even know of the Dark Hour, perhaps it was exclusive to Port Island, despite the fact that time was a universal theme.

Time to /perfect/? Yosuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. So what if Souji was a bit plain? He still had /style/, something that Ryoji obviously didn't have. Maybe he didn't exactly know how Ryoji looked when he was, well, in his own body, but he knew that his sense of style now was dreadful, and definitely ruining Souji's built up reputation. Yosuke wanted to punch the guy so badly, if not for the fact that he'd be ruining Souji's face, not Ryoji's. Dammit. 

By the end of the day, Yosuke felt like his skin was burning because of all the weird stares. Even if those odd gawks weren't directed towards Ryoji and not himself, it still felt aggravating. He'd have a lot of explaining and recovering to do when Souji got back, whenever that would have been. "He hangs out with us, usually. Sometimes not the whole Investigation Team, because he sometimes just spends time with me. Other than that, I don't think there's anything else you could possibly fuck up more than this." he said with a sigh, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair, bringing his legs up to cross them over on the desk, bringing his headphones over his ears as the music faintly played. The Dark Hour? What the hell was that? Whatever it was, it didn't sound all too pleasant. "Yeah, Shadows live in the TV world- the place you crawled out of. What, you think we use our Personas out here? Jesus, do you know how quickly that shit would get on the news?" he said wit ha scoff, turning up his music a bit more. 

Ryoji takes a deep, calming breath, these teens were much different than the ones he had grown accustomed to. Generally everything about this place was very different, he's concluded. It's odd, seeing a campus full of perfectly alive-seeming children and not the slightest indication of apathy-syndrome. Perhaps after his fall the disease had gone away with him, he can only wonder. His eyes follow the movements of the other boy, studying him with eyes still an unusual hue in comparison to Souji's. A few strands of the silvernette's bangs slip from the vice-hold of the bobby-pins, falling right between his eyes. Ryoji crosses his gaze to look at the offending hairs, blowing gently upwards as if to encourage their disappearance, but to no avail. He quickly gives up. "Well, where I come from the shadows reside in an entirely different local, but...it had a similar aura about it. Tartarus and this TV-land in which your team travels." He pauses, sensing the familiar presence of the two juniors. Chie and Yukiko, he reminds himself of their names. 

Chie walked by, standing next to Yukiko as she put her hands on her hips. "Well, speaking of the TV world, I think we're gonna have to do some investigating. Maybe it'll help us find more clues to get Souji back." she said, tilting her head in a curious manner.

"Ladies~" He coos, offering the two an almost cheeky grin and a wink. Yukiko makes a hissing sound between her teeth, resisting the twitch in her hand that urges her to slap him. She thinks that she's never had to slap Souji before, but, then again this wasn't exactly Souji. "Yeah," She starts, trying to direct her attention away from Ryoji's strange flirtatious winking. "I think that maybe, if we head back to the same place...we could find some answers? It's worth a shot at least."

Ryoji holds up a finger, as if to stop her thoughts. "Actually, I think I know why I am here...but it is...complicated, to say the least that is."


End file.
